Kicking and Screaming
by prouvaires
Summary: Lyla Gray is fourteen, short-tempered and revenge-orientated. When she's forced to go and live with her brother and two cousins, she throws all of her effort into making them wish she had never come. And that sort of thing is what Lyla is best at. R&R!
1. The Beginning

**Okay, I saw a challenge somewhere for a clichéd, over-used plot to be re-written as best as the author can. So I've gone for the traditional 'OMG, what if Connect 3 had a sister?!!! And what if she went to live with them??!!! Will she be able to turn their miserable lives around???!!!' I've seen some really good ones of these, so I figured I'd give it a shot. After all, if it's that bad, I'm sure someone along the line will tell me! Oh, also, I need Connect 3 to be related somehow, so they're cousins rather than brothers, because they're not brothers in the movie. My OC is Shane's sister, so the cousin of the others.**

They stared at her apathetically.

She returned the glare coldly, pulling one of the straps of her handbag back up onto her shoulder.

She was buffeted from all sides by people rushing from the aeroplanes into the open arms of loved ones. But still she stood, motionless now, waiting for one of them to make the first move.

She waited a long time. She could see that they were growing impatient; she supposed popstars never waited for _anyone _for that long, and these popstars were Connect 3. So they had good reason to expect not to be left waiting.

It didn't persuade her to move.

Eventually, the tallest one came forward. Annoyingly, she had to lean back to look at his face. She didn't recognise much – the vague facial shape was similar to the young face in her memory, but that was pretty much it. His forehead creased up as he gazed down at her. She stared back into his brown eyes, challenging him to a silent struggle of wills. He refused to take up the challenge. Instead, his eyes raked her up and down and his forehead creased further. He glanced back up to her face and opened his mouth.

"Lyla?"

She nodded once.

"You probably don't remember me. I'm Shane."

She rolled her eyes, but still didn't reply. He gazed at her for one long minute more, then grabbed up her two suitcases from the floor.

"Can we come over now?" A voice pleaded, and Jason started shifting from foot to foot in agitation.

"Sure. I mean, I've got all the greeting _I'm _going to get," Shane called back, beginning to lug his sister's suitcases over to the doors of the airport. Jason squealed with joy and ran over to Lyla, his boots clicking against the floor.

"LYLA!" he yelled in delight and gathered her up. She was small for fourteen, which made it hard for her to do much about it. Jason squeezed her to his chest for a while longer, and Lyla found it hard to breathe. Eventually she fought her way free and stood, chest heaving as she reclaimed lost oxygen, a little way apart from him, glaring at him. His face creased up.

"What's wrong, Lyles?" He asked worriedly, and reached for her arm. She pulled it away, and remained silent. Shane came back over, with Nate in tow.

"Lyla, if you don't stop being immature _now _and start talking I'll just leave you here."

In response, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small notebook and a pen, scribbling something on it before handing it over to Shane.

"I'm not talking to anyone who doesn't deserve it until I'm allowed to go back home," he read out, the lines of anger in his forehead reappearing. Nate frowned as well.

"You mean you won't talk to anyone? Not even your Dad?"

She snatched the notebook back and wrote: _Especially not Dad, _and showed it to Nate.

"Why not?" Nate asked, starting to lead her out of the airport. She pointed to herself, then gestured to indicate the area and people around her.

"You didn't want to come?" Nate guessed, and she nodded. "But we haven't seen you since you were little! Isn't it an adventure for you?"

She tore a page out of her book and started writing again, stopping and forcing her brother and cousins to wait for her.

_You could have written or asked to meet me. I wanted to go with mom to France, not here. France would have been an adventure. This is lame._

She showed them it, and Shane's features darkened.

"Well, aren't you Miss Spoiled Rotten of the Century?! You're not going to be an only child any more, Lyla. The attention will be mostly on the rest of us, and you're going to have to grow up pretty fast."

She unleashed the full force of her 'Gray Glare' on him. Her mom had coined the phrase for the look that usually had the victim quivering in terror. However, Shane was more than equal to it and gave her an identical look. They stood, locked in a contest of wills, blue eyes staring fiercely into brown, until Jason broke the silence.

"Um, guys? We need to go. Uncle Martin will be wondering where we are."

Shane turned on his heel and strode off, towards the doors. Nate hooked an arm through Lyla's and dragged her forwards. Her feet tried to turn her backwards, onto a plane home to the wilds of Montana, but the boy with her was strong and he kept her walking inexorably forwards, unable to cut and run.

They broke out of the crowd in the doorway and into the bright sunlight. Lyla was momentarily blinded, but her vision returned to let her see the two girls waiting by the car that _had _to be Shane's. The shorter one, with a box fringe and a massive grin, came forwards.

"Is this her?" She asked Nate in what she probably thought was a discreet way. Lyla sized her up. And disliked her on principle, because Shane was staring at her with lovesick eyes. Ugh. Now she would have to deal with her brother being all sappy. Angry she could understand: she had grown up with it; but loving? No way.

"Hi, Lyla, I'm Mitchie. I'm Shane's girlfriend," fringey said, and Lyla held out a bored hand. Shane glowered at her. Lyla smiled, putting on her best _I-am-so-superior-to-you-and-you're-lucky-I'm-even-letting-myself-stay-in-your-presence _air and shaking fringey's hand. Mitchie looked like she didn't know quite how to react, and Nate and Shane were looking furious. Lyla didn't even bother to greet fringey's friend, pushing past them both and climbing into the car. She claimed one of the back seats, right up against the window. The others arranged themselves around her, Jason sitting next to her, Mitchie in the passenger seat and Shane in the driver's seat – not a good idea to Lyla – and Nate and the other girl squished in on the other side of Jason.

He ruffled her hair absently as they drove out of the carpark and onto the highway. She batted his hand away impatiently, still silent.

"Hey, now that you're here, will you help me make a birdhouse?" Jason asked her, putting on his best puppy-dog expression and nudging her. She cocked her head to one side and considered for a minute.

Then she nodded once and Jason exploded with delight.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT? SHE'S GONNA MAKE ME A BIRDHOUSE!"

"Dude, volume," Nate said, clapping his hands over his ears and trying to get rid of the ringing in his head. Jason clapped his hands joyfully and squished Lyla into another hug. Releasing her, he gave her a massive beam that made her smile, just a little, and ruffled her hair.

"So, how you been at, like, school and stuff?" Jason queried. She shrugged and wrote _I got an A in French and History. Other than that Bs mostly a_nd showed it to him. He read it carefully.

"An A in French? I didn't know you spoke another language."

_I learnt it so I could go to France with Mom._

"Oh. Say something in French, then."

Lyla ignored him, staring out of the window instead. The waving palm trees flashed past them as other conversations bubbled over in the car. Lyla focused on the chat going on in the front between her brother and his girlfriend.

"I don't think your sister likes me," Mitchie commented quietly, seeming upset by that fact. Lyla smiled to herself, thinking how perceptive Mitchie was.

"Don't take it personally, Mitch. She doesn't like anyone." Shane replied, and Lyla frowned. _That _wasn't true. She liked her friends back home. She _adored _her pony. In fact, she loved Shane and her cousins too, but she was so hurt by the fact that none of them had ever contacted her she wasn't going to let that on so early.

So she just made a small noise of protest and resumed staring gloomily out of the window. The sunshine seemed at odds with her terrible mood.

"Alright, we're home!" Shane said with false cheeriness as he turned onto the broad driveway. Lyla craned her head forward, excited to see her new home despite herself. There was lots of grass around the front of the house, with rose bushes up against the white walls. There were lots of trees around, and the number increased gradually until there was a proper woodland rising over a slight hill. Lyla relaxed a little – plenty of space to carry out her plan. The house was massive, more of a mansion than anything else. It was painted a pale cream, and Lyla smiled to herself: it would be perfect for the various things she had planned.

Shane killed the engine and stepped out. Lyla pushed the door open and left Nate and Jason to get her suitcases. She let a hand trail along the railing behind her as she climbed the few steps up to the front porch. She stopped to look at the house for a moment, then strode over the porch, hitching her bag up again and pushing the large door open with considerable effort. The sounds of chatter behind her dimmed as she stepped into the sunny hall. She gazed around her, unsurprised by anything. There was one of those staircases that take up half the house, expensive paintings hanging on most walls, and doors leading off onto various other rooms.

"Boys? Is that you back?" A male voice called and Lyla watched her dad appear at the top of the stairs. She stared at him as he walked slowly down the stairs. He frowned as he reached the hallway, coming closer to her.

"Lyla? Is that you?"

She gazed at him stonily, then jumped as the door crashed open behind her.

"Uncle Martin!" Jason cried in delight, lugging Lyla's suitcase through the doorway. He dropped it and ran to give his uncle a hug, but was fended off.

"Nice to see you too," Lyla's dad said, then turned his attention back to Lyla. "Sweetie, it's so good to see you."

She said nothing, as promised, and his expression turned wary. Both of his children had inherited his temper, and he didn't want to have any arguments with his daughter.

"Lyla, what's wrong?" he asked kindly, trying to put a hand on her shoulder. She shook it off with a scowl.

"She won't speak, Uncle Martin," Jason put in helpfully. Lyla heard Shane's exasperated sigh as he walked in through the door, followed by Mitchie, Nate, and the other girl Lyla still didn't know.

"And why's that?" her dad asked her in a patronising tone. She turned round and went to get her suitcases, taking the first from Shane's unresisting hand and grabbing up the second from the floor where Jason had left it. Then she started heaving them over to the staircase. However, she found her way blocked by her father and let her suitcases drop rather gratefully, then crossed her arms, mimicking his pose.

"Lyla Arianna Gray! Speak to me!" he demanded furiously. Shane hurried over to stand by his father. Nate, recognising the warning signs, started to propel Mitchie, Jason and the other girl into another room. He shut the door behind them and left Lyla defenceless against her family. But she wasn't a Gray for nothing, so she squared her shoulders and waited. She wasn't disappointed.

"You are the most immature, self-centered, rude child I ever knew!" her dad growled, and Lyla rolled her eyes.

"Yeah! You should be grateful for coming to stay with us, instead of throwing our offer right back in her faces." Shane complained hotly. Lyla looked each of them in the eye, and opened her mouth. They both looked expectant and slightly relieved. She closed it again, and smirked at their expressions.

"THAT'S IT! YOU'VE BEEN HERE FIVE MINUTES AND YOU'RE ALREADY GROUNDED! Your mother warned me you were trouble," her father cried angrily. Lyla shrugged. Whatever.

"JASON! NATE!" her dad yelled, and the two boys put their heads round the door, looking slightly apprehensive.

"Yeah, Uncle Martin?" Nate asked, coming out to stand in the hallway.

"Can you show Lyla to her room, please. And then lock the door and bring the key to me."

Nate nodded, not wanting to risk his uncle's temper.

"Sure we can."

Lyla shot him a devastated, betrayed look and Nate felt incredibly guilty, but it just wasn't worth fighting with his uncle. Lyla had to learn to conform to her dad's rules when he was at home otherwise be permanently grounded. Fortunately, his job often took him abroad on fortnight-long business trips, which gave Nate, Jason and Shane enough time for two, maybe three wild parties, time to sleep them off and plenty of opportunities for rebellion. It was a system that worked pretty well, and Lyla would slot in pretty quickly, Nate was sure. So he followed Jason over to the stairs and picked up the remaining case, then started climbing the stairs. His uncle and Shane watched them go, along with the two girls.

Lyla could feel the tears fighting their way up, but she battled them down as Jason chattered away to her, oblivious, and Nate followed silently.

"Right! Here's your room!" Jason announced proudly as they stopped outside a tall white door. With a flourish, he pushed the door open and Lyla gasped in delight. The room was large, and a huge four-poster bed with a white gossamer canopy dominated one half of the space. There were two wardrobes, a chest of drawers and a large bay window with a window seat that looked big enough to sleep on. The carpet was a very pale cream colour, and a door led to an en-suite bathroom. There was a huge flat-screen TV mounted on the wall facing the bed, with a Wii, DVD and video player all beneath it, along with what looked like about a hundred DVDs, videos and games. Plus a laptop on a desk beside the window. But it wasn't the crazy-expensiveness of the room that stunned her into silence. It was the walls themselves. Instead of white or pink like she had been expecting, the bottom was painted a beautiful, pale green like grass and the top three-quarters a gorgeous, autumn-sky blue. There were fluffy, authentic-looking clouds suspended in the 'sky', and all over there were different pictures. Lyla stood there in awe, her mouth hanging slightly open. Jason came to stand next to her.

"Do you like it?" he asked excitedly. "I painted it."

She turned to him and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you a million times! It's the best room _ever_!"

He grinned modestly and hugged her back. "I told your mom I was going to decorate your bedroom and asked if there were any themes she thought you'd like, and she sent me the names of your three favourite books, plus your favourite animals. There were some dragon books on the top of the list, so I went with a sort of mystical theme. And I thought you didn't talk?"

She grinned hugely, her smile lighting up her previously sullen face. Nate watched the goings-on in amazement.

"I said I wouldn't talk to anyone who didn't deserve it. And you've _so _just earned it, dude!"

She ran to the centre of the room and pivoted, staring in wonder at the animals that looked like they would start moving any second. A white unicorn with a silver horn gazed at her from behind some trees. A white tiger slunk through the undergrowth, followed by three tumbling cubs. Fairies drifted overhead, their wings sparkling, mingling with beautiful birds on the upper parts of the wall and across the ceiling. Lyla stopped when she came to the painting of a little brown horse.

"You put Peter in!" she exclaimed in delight, and behind her Nate shook his head in bewilderment, unused to hearing her speak. He and Jason were still holding the cases, but they were so enchanted by her thrilled reaction that they didn't notice. "You are officially the _best _cousin _ever_."

Jason grinned like a fool as Lyla came to the final picture, or rather, pictures. She moved closer to the wall to examine them. There was a massive, golden dragon dominating about a third of the wall that ran to the right of the bed and that the door was in, seeming to shimmer slightly. As Lyla studied the dragon's brown-haired rider, she made a noise of surprise.

"It's me!" she said in pure pleasure, and then she examined the riders of the three bronze dragons behind the gold. "And it's you three! Jason, I love you," she said fervently, stepping back to absorb the full impact of the scene. The gold dragon led the three bronzes, and there were several brown, green and blue dragons smaller in the background. All the dragons were shimmering in the sunlight, Jason's skill making them seem almost alive.

"How did you know to put me in?" she asked, stepping up to Jason. He smiled, incredibly pleased by how much she loved it.

"Your mom attached a picture of you with your pony to the email she sent. That's how I put him in, too."

Nate started to move the suitcases into the room, dumping them on the bed.

"Lyla, I'm really sorry but I have to lock you in here now."

She couldn't be bothered to be mad and she still wasn't talking to him, so she ignored him, going to stare at the walls again.

"Bye Lyla," Jason said, going to shut the door. She beamed radiantly at him.

"Bye Jason."

He shut the door gently behind him, and Lyla heard the lock click shut and the key withdrawn. That sound brought her abruptly back to the truth of her situation, and she scowled again, unable to just stare at the pictures. She could hear talking downstairs, so she figured they could hear her. So, just to see what would happen, she let out a massive, enraged scream. Pounding footsteps up the stairs, and then a banging on the door.

"Lyla, are you alright?"

It was Shane. He obviously did care. That realisation ended all notion she had of refusing to talk to them.

"NO I'M FUCKING NOT!" she shrieked furiously, and more footsteps ran up the stairs.

"What's wrong?" her dad's voice was worried, and Lyla screamed again.

"I'M SO _MAD_! LET ME THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" her voice was nice and screechy, and she smiled to herself in satisfaction as her dad yelled back. Even if she was in hell, she might as well have fun.

"No, young lady, you need to do some growing up. Then you can come out."

She didn't bother to answer, and their footsteps retreated down the stairs again after a while. She went over to the bed and opened up her suitcases, looking at the piles of clothes within. Most of them were thick jumpers and heavy jeans she'd have no need of here. Bored of that already, she glanced around for escape routes. Having been at boarding school for two years, she knew the standard drill.

Any other doors? No. Balcony? No. Tree or trellis to climb down outside? No. Air conditioning vent in the walls or ceiling? Check!

Lyla grinned to herself as she noticed the duct in the ceiling. It looked dark but perfectly able to fit a small fourteen-year-old into. She dragged the chair from the desk to the centre of the room and, standing on it, went from there to the post of her bed and shimmied up it, reaching over to push the vent open with one hand. Then she swung herself over and up into it. She had to crawl on her belly, commando style, but she made good progress anyway. At boarding school, she and her best friend Mary had a reputation for being the best at getting around in vents. It was a necessary skill, as almost every big building had vents, even if they were disused. This house proved to be no exception.

She crawled for ages, taking random turns when she felt like it. Occasionally she passed over the entrance to a large room, and once a stupendously messy room that had to be one of the boys', and a couple of times she fell a few metres or slid downwards for a while. She figured she must have made it downstairs at some point because she crawled over what looked like a ballroom. Then she made it to where she hoped to find herself: the sitting room. She could see the whole room from her vantage point and grinned to herself. Time to mess with her family's heads. Shane was sitting with an arm flung over the back of the sofa with his arm behind Mitchie's head, his other hand holding hers in his lap. Nate was sitting with the other girl, whose name Lyla felt she really ought to get to know, and Jason was munching on a bowl of popcorn, sitting on a sofa by himself. Lyla felt a little sorry for him, but decided to play the tricks anyway. She moved back, away from the opening quite a way, and then called out in a low voice.

"Ooohhhh, Naaaaatteeeee …"

The babble of chatter from the sitting room cut off, and someone silenced the TV.

"What was that?" Shane's voice asked anxiously, and Lyla called out again.

"Naaaaaatteeeeeee! Doooo yooouuuuu heeaaar meee caaall yooouuuu?"

A new, scared kind of babbling replaced the silence, and Lyla had to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling as she heard the door crash open and then slam shut. She shuffled silently to the opening and saw that the room had cleared. With a grin, she pulled the grate open and let herself slide out, feet first, then hung by her arms, swinging to get the required momentum and then letting herself go, landing on one of the sofas. She hurried to grab a snooker cue and pushed the grate shut, then switched the TV back on and sat down to watch SpongeBob with Jason's abandoned bowl of popcorn. Maybe coming to this house wasn't _so _bad.


	2. Waterworks

Lyla heard muttering from outside the door and swivelled her head round to watch with unfeigned interest as Shane was pushed in through the doorway, wielding what looked like a baseball bat. She stifled a laugh as his brows met.

"Lyla?" he exploded angrily, and everyone else pushed their way in to the room. Jason grinned at her.

"How did you get out?" Nate asked incredulously, staring at her. She jumped to her feet.

"Trade secret," she told them, tapping her nose. Then, "are we playing baseball? Excellent, I haven't played that in ages. Jason, do you have some balls?"

Jason whacked Nate and Shane when they started sniggering.

"Don't say it," he warned Nate as the younger boy opened his mouth. Lyla suddenly ran up to Shane and grabbed both the bat and the hat he was wearing.

"Nice hat, bro," she said, dancing out of his reach as he snatched at her.

"Lyla! Give it back!"

"Only if you promise to play ball with me," she bargained, running down the hallway. He swore and pelted after her. His long legs gave him an advantage, but she darted out the front door. Shane shot after her, and the other teens all followed with considerable interest. She shoved the hat on her head as she ran down the drive, then suddenly turned right.

"LYLA!" Shane roared, and she just laughed. She reached the base of a big tree, flung the bat down, and leapt for the nearest branch. She had just scrambled out of Shane's reach when he reached the base of the tree. She perched about a metre above his head, laughing so hard she had to hang on.

"Lyla Gray, give me back my hat! And come down from that tree, it might be dangerous."

She stuck two fingers up at him, hoping to encourage him to come up after her. He swore angrily, and Nate, Jason, Mitchie and the other girl had just reached the tree when Shane grabbed at the branch and started to climb up after his sister. The four sat down on the grass in the sunshine to watch the proceedings.

Lyla was clearly in her element, taunting Shane and allowing him to get just within reach before darting away. She occasionally hung off a branch by her arm just to show she could, and laughed hugely at Shane when he ripped his jeans. She was nearing the top of the tree and was planning the best way to get down past Shane when her hair got caught on a twig.

"Shit!" she swore, trying to tug it free before Shane could reach her. "No!" she protested as he reached her.

"Gotcha," he said with a huge grin. She tried to pull away, but some hair ripped out, so she remained stuck. "Oh, did you get stuck?" Shane asked.

"No duh," she replied, pouting. He smiled and reached past her to gently untangle the lock of hair from the twig.

"Thanks," she said as he patted back into place. The she screamed as he swung her up over his shoulder and started to climb down the tree.

"Bastard! Put me down!" She pummelled his back but he just ignored her and concentrated on putting his feet in the right place. She gave up eventually and just hung there as he climbed down, occasionally shouting fresh insults in his ear when she thought of them. He finally reached the ground and dumped her on the ground, took his hat back, and picked up the bat.

"Right, baseball, people," he said, and Lyla beamed.

"I knew you'd play with me!" she crowed, and turned to the others as they came up to the pair.

"That was impressive – I've never seen anyone climb a tree so fast," the still unknown girl said.

"Well, Caitlyn, you've never met Lyla before. She's like a monkey when it comes to trees." Nate said with a grin as he, Jason and Shane started marking out bases.

Lyla smiled at Caitlyn. "Years of practise," she confided, and Caitlyn grinned.

"Right, teams." Shane said, and they all formed a circle.

"Boys vs. girls?" Nate suggested.

"Have you _seen _Mitchie play baseball?" Caitlyn asked rhetorically. "She sucks."

"No offense taken," Mitchie muttered with a smile.

"Okay, so why doesn't Jason go with Lyla and Caitlyn, and Shane and me'll go with Mitchie?"

Everyone considered Nate's proposal for a minute.

"Deal. We call bat first!" Shane said, and drew his team off to one side. Caitlyn and Lyla put their heads up against Jason's.

"Right, Jason, you go out deep. Lyla, do you pitch or field better?"

"Field."

"Okay, I'll bowl and you come in close, plus take the base. We'll suggest as a rule that they can't run if they miss, and then we don't need a backstop."

"Cool," Jason said, and they all put their hands in.

"BREAK!" Lyla shouted exuberantly, and scampered off to take up her position. They had decided to play with only two bases that had to be run between, like cricket, to minimise the amount of exercise the fielding team would need to do. Jason and Caitlyn watched her go.

"She has way too much energy," Caitlyn said. Jason laughed in agreement and then they both moved into place.

"Batter up!" Caitlyn called, and Nate stepped up.

"You ready, Taylor?" Caitlyn called, and Nate smiled.

"Bring it on, Gellar," he said with a smug grin, swinging the bat. She smiled, then coiled up and released the ball with a flick. Nate didn't even see it come. Shane caught the ball and lobbed it back to Caitlyn, who nodded her thanks. Then she let loose another fast ball, but Nate was ready for it and smacked it mightily. It soared up into the air, and Nate started to run between the two bases. Jason shot after the ball and picked it up, chucking it back to Caitlyn with all his might. She caught it and passed it to Lyla, who went to get Nate out but just missed.

"Safe!" Shane and Mitchie cheered. Nate dusted himself off and gave Caitlyn a cheeky smile. Lyla saw Caitlyn scowl, so she stuck her foot out and Nate went flying. She ducked out of the way before he could get her back, and then Mitchie stepped up to bat, so Nate had to move. Mitchie missed five balls, then by some fluke managed to tap the sixth. She started to run, but Lyla had scooped up the ball and thrown it to Caitlyn, who easily got Mitchie out.

"Better luck next time, babe," Shane told her, giving her a hug before taking the bat and stepping up. Lyla ran backwards, ready for the huge swing she knew her brother would give. She wasn't disappointed. The ball and bat made a sharp 'crack' as the connected, and Lyla and Jason took off after the ball.

By the time Shane and Nate were out they had scored twenty-four points between, so Caitlyn went first. She gave the ball a good belt and it flew right through Mitchie's outstretched hands.

"Eat it, Taylor," she taunted Nate, who was pitching, with a grin as she ran. Jason was next, and although he hit it well he ran quite slowly and only scored two points. Then Lyla stepped up.

"Go easy, Nate," Shane called, and Lyla smiled.

"Yes Nate, please do. I'm not so great at ball sports," she said with her best innocent look. He bought it, and pitched the ball so slowly that Lyla had time to think, _biggest sucker I ever met,_ before bashing the ball with all her might.

"Go!" Caitlyn and Jason screamed from behind her, and she started sprinting.

"Mitchie, get the ball!" Nate yelled in exasperation as Mitchie just stood and watched the ball sail over her head. Shane was sprinting towards the ball when Mitchie suddenly found that her feet worked and shot after it too. They crashed into each other really hard, and Lyla had to stop her crazy running because she was laughing too hard. Shane picked himself up, dusted off his jeans which were ripped and stained green from the tree, helped Mitchie up, and then turned to see the rest of his family and Caitlyn rolling on the ground with laughter.

"You're all going to Hell for laughing at that!" he yelled angrily.

"Oh, stop. I … can't … breathe!" Lyla gasped, face down on the grass, and Nate nodded helplessly in agreement. Caitlyn had tears streaming down her face, and Jason was clutching at his stomach. Shane flung an arm around Mitchie's shoulder, and glared at them coldly. He was about to tell them off soundly when a car coming down from the house pulled up next to the grass where they were playing ball. One of the back windows wound down, and his dad poked his head out.

"Kids? I'm off now. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Jason, you're in charge. Shane, make sure you drive your lady friends home tonight. Nate, you need to call your dad. Lyla, make sure you – wait! How did you get out?"

She grinned. "It's a secret. Can I have the key to my door, please?"

"Shane has it."

Lyla whirled in fury. "You left it with _Shane_?! I might have been locked in there forever!"

How _did_ you get out?" her dad asked again. Lyla grinned.

"I diffused all the cells in my body and walked through the door."

"Don't be facetious."

"I'm not!" she protested. He sighed and turned to Jason.

"Try to control her, okay? I'll see you kids later!" then the window wound back up and the car sped off in a cloud of dust.

"He did go," Nate commented in relief.

"Right, start calling people to tell them the party's back on for tomorrow night." Shane said, pulling out his phone and dialling a number. Lyla watched in amazement as all the five other teenagers pulled out their cellphones and started calling people. With a sigh of disgust, she stood up and went back up the drive and inside the house.

She locked the door behind her, then went down the hallway peeking at the other rooms one by one. She saw a ballroom with a parquet floor, then another, _massive _dance room with multi-coloured lights, a punch fountain in the middle of the floor, and huge music system in the corner of the room with a iPod wired up to it, black walls and bright neon lights everywhere. There was also a large door set into the window, so she breezed across the room and locked that too. Eventually she found the kitchen, down behind the stairs. It was huge and old, with terracotta floor tiles that were heated from underneath and gleaming worktops. She locked the door leading out onto the back garden too, and then opened the freezer side of the fridge and pulled out a box of ice-creams.

_Yummy, Ben and Jerry's, _she thought, opening the box and unwrapping one of the Half-Baked ones. She put the rest back and put that one in her mouth, beginning to eat it, then made her way back out of the kitchen. She went around the rest of the ground floor rooms, closing any open doors or windows, then climbed the huge staircase to the second floor. All the bedrooms had en-suites, she noticed with pleasure, and all the beds were made with mountains of fluffy white, blue and purple cushions. She pushed open the door of a room painted green. The bed was unmade and there were clothes all over the floor. It also smelt kinda funny, so Lyla held her nose. There were musical instruments _everywhere._ There was a drum kit in the corner, three different electric guitars lying around, two acoustic guitars, and a keyboard to one side. There were also sheets of music pinned all over the walls, most covered in scribbles. Lyla decided that it was Nate's room.

The next lived-in bedroom she came to was just as messy, but there were two birdcages resting on the windowsill. A budgie cheeped at Lyla from one as she crossed the room, and she smiled and pushed a little seed-bar through the bars. It chirruped happily and fluttered down to peck away at it. Lyla turned to the other cage. There were two lovebirds sitting on one of the branches, nestled up to each other, and Lyla made an 'aw' noise, then grunted as her ice-cream gave her momentary brain-freeze. She had to pause for a moment, then left the room, shutting the door carefully behind her.

She went past her room. It had 'Lyla' painted on it in big, bright letters, and she smiled. She tried the handle but it was still locked. She frowned and moved on to the next room. The door swung open, and Lyla was confronted with a surprisingly neat-looking room. There weren't too many clothes around, and it smelt rather nice. By the pictures of Mitchie and Shane, and Shane and various friends stuck up all over the walls, Lyla deduced that it was Shane's room. And right next door to hers, too. She wasn't sure if she was pleased or annoyed by that fact.

She padded down to the end of the upstairs hallway and opened what she thought was a cupboard door. However, there was a narrow set of steps winding up into what had to be the attic. Lyla considered going up, but it was dark and it looked like there might be spiders everywhere, so she shut the door carefully. She moved right and discovered a huge set of bay windows hung with gossamer curtains, through which sunlight was streaming. She sat down on the deep purple window seat, and looked out of the window down onto the sweeping front lawn and driveway. There was fencing on one side of the drive, and that with the big stone wall created a large, closed off area that would be perfect for a horse. In fact, it had probably been used for that before because there was a shelter with an open door in a corner. Lyla smiled absently, then her grin grew wider as she saw Shane, Mitchie, Jason, Nate and Caitlyn making their way towards the front door. She opened the window discreetly as they got closer, and waited.

"Oh, I think the door got stuck." Jason said, tugging at it with little success. Lyla stifled a giggle. She hopped off the window seat and shot back to her bedroom, pulled out her supply of water balloons and her huge water pistol. She filled them all up in record time and dashed back with a bucketful of water balloons and a full water pistol to the window at the front of the house, plus a full bucket of cold water.

They were still struggling with the door.

"It must have blown to and got stuck," Shane was saying, pulling at it. Lyla selected her first balloon.

"It's weird, I don't think it's done this be-"

He was cut off as Lyla hurled the first balloon down onto his head. It exploded all over him and he gasped in shock. Lyla pulled back hurriedly, ducking down.

"What was that?!" Shane yelled angrily. Lyla pulled out three water balloons and stood up.

"ME!" she shouted and threw them down. One hit Mitchie and the other two burst against the floor, soaking Nate's feet.

"Lyla!" Shane cursed and drew back from the door to wave a fist at her. She chucked another two, and then they all ran around the side of the house. Lyla grabbed up all her stuff and sprinted to the window above the door in the ballroom, and waited. Sure enough they appeared there and hurried to the door, trying to open it. She hit Caitlyn and Jason this time, plus Shane and Mitchie again.

"Dammit!" Jason shouted, while Shane was reduced to wordless, furious mouthings.

"Sorry, Jase, I was aiming for Nate!" Lyla called down, blowing him a kiss. He smiled, and she pelted him with another one. They were all shouting at once, except Nate who was staring at Caitlyn because the water had made her white top go see-through.

"Pervert!" Lyla yelled at him, and hit him with two water balloons in quick succession. They started running again to the next door, and she mimicked them a floor above. She only had six water balloons left, so she reserved two for Shane. She gave them a few seconds to struggle with the door, thinking they had lost her, then aimed carefully at Mitchie and hit her in the stomach.

"Stop getting my girlfriend wet!" Shane yelled, and Lyla threw one hard at him. It burst on his chest, and Lyla almost doubled over laughing. She hit Nate with one right on the head, which would piss him off because his curly hair went crazy when it was wet. She hit Jason with one on the butt when they all started running for the kitchen door. Lyla ran into Nate's room, which was above it. She had to pick her way over the clothes, but she threw the window open, relishing the fresh air, and hit Caitlyn in the back as they tried to get the kitchen door open. She had one left now, and she hefted it, then flung it at Shane with all her strength. It hit him right in the face, and then Lyla pulled out the water pistol.

Mitchie screamed when Lyla aimed the muzzle at them. Then she put her finger on the trigger, pumping for all she was worth, fully soaking any previously dry part of them. Once the pistol was empty, she dumped the full bucket of water over them.

"Hey, it opened!" Lyla heard Jason shout, and swore. She abandoned the bucket and climbed as fast as she could up the side of Nate's bed, hearing heavy footsteps pounding up the stairs. She was trembling from laughter as she pushed the vent open, because the pounding footsteps had a sort of squelchy echo.

She could hear their angry voices gaining on her, and she had just hoisted herself up when the door burst open.

"The vent!" Nate yelled, and she snapped it shut.

"How did she get up there?" Shane wondered, and Lyla stuck her head out over the opening to stick her tongue out at them. They were completely soaked, water dripping from them, and Lyla was delighted to see that Mitchie's mascara was running all down her face. She lay on front, propping herself up on her elbows, watching as they tried to decide what to do.

"I know!" Shane suddenly exclaimed. "Up the side of the bed, on the posts!" Nate leapt for it, and Lyla whipped round and wriggled off as fast as she could. She heard Nate wrestling with the grate behind her, and came to a mini-crossroads in the vent. She had a moment of indecision, then went left. She heard bashing noises as Nate and others unknown reached the vents. She took another left, then went right, hearing the other noises retreating from her hearing. Eventually she came to an absolutely pitch black part, and retreated into an alcove. She curled up and lay listening hard.

There was silence for a little while, then to her horror, she heard loud clanking getting closer.

"Right, I'll go left, Nate go right, Mitchie straight on."

Lyla realised that Shane was coming her way, and he was smart enough to check all the alcoves, so she – utterly silently – started to crawl off. The years of practise really paid off, because they were making enough noise to wake the dead as they shuffled through the tunnels the vents created, while she was as quiet as a fish.

She cracked herself up with that little joke as she crawled forwards. The clanking behind her was gaining, so she sped up, and took a left. To her horror, she found herself sliding downwards. She let out a cry of surprise, then swore loudly.

"Lyla?! I can _hear _you!" Shane called from behind her. Lyla was still sliding downwards though, and actually beginning to enjoy it slightly. It was not totally dark in the vent, and she knew some tricks and let her hands drag along the walls. She felt a gap to her left as she slid and grabbed onto it, hoisting herself through and into the next level of vents. She guessed that the full slide would take her all the way down to the basement.

She pretended to make another noise of shock, and she poked her head out to see Shane take the left and go sliding down just as she had. He swore worse than her, skidding downwards. He sped past her hiding place, and she made a grab for his leg. He jumped and made a noise of distress as her hand fastened around his ankle, just managing to hold him there. It was soaking wet, but she held on. He twisted his head to see what had caught him, and saw her smirking face.

"Lyla!"

Then she let him go and he kept sliding, swearing angrily, unable to stop himself. She laughed aloud and then turned around, wriggling through the dark tunnel. Her eyes were becoming a little accustomed to it, and she could see a patch of light shining ahead. To her delight, when she reached it she found herself over the kitchen. The ceiling was too high for her to get out from there, but she could work out roughly where she was. If she took a left and two rights, she ought to come out over the games room, and there were bean-bags all over the floor of that room, so she'd have a nice, soft landing. She went in the required direction, and found herself exactly where she had hoped.

_Nice_, she applauded herself for a moment, then froze to listen hard. She could hear no voices, so she carefully opened the grate and swung herself down onto a bean-bag. It made a slight 'thump' noise, so she hurried to grab a baseball bat, climbed on the snooker table and shut the grate. Then she went to the door, opened it quietly, and scurried across the hall to the kitchen. It was still empty, so she went to the nearest cupboard, tore the doors open to find loads of cereal, grabbed four boxes, shoved them in a carrier bag and went out the door, careful to take the key with her.

She found a tree that she could climb that was relatively near the house, which she could sit in and watch the drama that was unfolding inside. She climbed it quickly, then found a comfortable perch which she could sit in with no fear of falling and observe. She saw Mitchie fall through a grate in an upstairs room onto a bed and lie there, winded; saw Shane emerge through a door on the bottom floor covered in soot and cobwebs, coughing; saw Jason feeding his birds; and then saw something that made her blink.

Nate and Caitlyn both entered a room. Nate turned to lock the door behind them both, and then moved over to Caitlyn, kissing her. Lyla's jaw almost hit the floor, and she dropped the packet of cereal she had just pulled out. She watched in utter shock as Nate started pulling Caitlyn's top off, but when his came off she snapped back into action. She abandoned the cereal packets, shimmied down the tree and shot back inside the house. Shane saw her coming and made a grab for her, but she dodged him and sprinted up the stairs, clutching at the banister. Jason came out of his room and also tried to catch her, but she ducked around him and pelted to the closed door. She struck it repeatedly with her fist.

"Nathaniel Alex Taylor! Get out of there _this instant_!" she screamed, and then Shane caught her around the waist.

"Lyla, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Yuck, you're all dirty!" she complained, trying to get away from him. He was far too strong, so she resumed whacking the door.

"Nate! Caitlyn! Stop it!" she yelled, pummelling the door.

"Nate? Caitlyn? What are they doing in there?" Shane wondered, and Lyla stopped shouting at the two who were still refusing to come to the door.

"Each other!" she explained to Shane. He released her and joined her in pounding on the door. Jason just watched them in amazement, then turned very quietly and went back to his room, deciding that this was something he didn't want to be a part of.

Mitchie came up the stairs to find her boyfriend and his little sister yelling at and hitting a door. She raised a puzzled eyebrow, and then went over to them.

"Shane? What are you doing?"

"It's not _me_! _Nate_ is doing Caitlyn!" he shouted, and Lyla nodded frantically, wrestling with the handle.

"Are you serious?" Mitchie asked. They both stopped hitting the door and turned to face her with such similar expressions that she took a step back. Then they whirled round.

"Right, little sis, stand back," Shane warned, preparing to ram the door. She took several large steps back, and Shane charged towards the door. Unfortunately for him, the classic thing happened and Nate opened the door, thankfully fully dressed, just as he reached impact point. Shane stumbled through and hit the bed, keeling over into the messed up duvet.

"You!" Lyla ground out, sticking a finger up against his chest and standing on tiptoe to push her face right up into his. "You sneaky, lying, cheating, low-down, good-for-nothing - "

"Yes, thanks, Lyla," Shane said, standing up and pacing around the room. "Alright, where is she?"

"Where's who?" Nate tried, but neither Shane nor Lyla were having any of it.

"You know _exactly _who we're talking about!" Lyla yelled, and Nate backed off.

"No I don't!" he protested, but in three seconds Shane had him in a headlock and Lyla was up in his face up again.

"You have five seconds to tell us where Caitlyn is," Lyla told him, and Nate gulped. The Gray siblings were not to be messed with.


	3. Fireworks

Nate said nothing.

"Lyla, out," Shane commanded in a terse voice. Lyla very wisely chose to retreat. Shane slammed the door behind her. Mitchie was still standing outside the door, wearing an expression that was half-annoyed and half-puzzled. Lyla slid down the wall just outside the door and sat, waiting. There were a few shouts, heard even through the sound-proof walls. Then the door flew open and Caitlyn stormed out, grabbed Mitchie by the arm and marched down the stairs.

"We're leaving!" She shouted over her shoulder. Mitchie waved a goodbye to Lyla before being tugged out the door by Caitlyn. Lyla waved back, then stood up and tentatively pushed the door open. She found Shane pinning Nate face-down on the floor.

"Why'd you do it?" Shane was demanding. Nate's answer was muffled because half of his face was pressed into the carpet. Shane had both his arms pulled backwards and was sitting on his back. Lyla decided to leave them to it, and went downstairs. She headed for the kitchen, drawn by the smells of cooking. She saw Jason standing by the stove and glanced at the clock, amazed to see that it was almost 7:30. Jason had a saucepan out and was cooking a delicious-smelling sauce, plus had a pan of pasta boiling.

"Whatcha doing?" Lyla asked, taking a seat at one of the barstools up against the central island worktop.

"Cooking," he replied with a smile. "Here, try this," he said, and Lyla opened her mouth to receive it. She chewed it for a minute, then swallowed.

"Yummy," she said, "more."

"It's finished cooking now, so go lay the table. Cutlery top middle draw, plates bottom cupboard nearest the window, and glasses above the coffee machine."

Lyla did as instructed. She was putting out the cups when Jason left the kitchen for a moment.

"DINNER!" he yelled as loud as he could, then reappeared. Lyla sat down at one end of the table. Jason moved the vegetables and pasta over to the table, and Lyla helped herself to the pasta.

"Vegetables," Jason instructed matter-of-factly.

"No," Lyla replied in a voice just as matter-of-fact. Jason opened his mouth to argue, but then Nate stormed in and took one of the two remaining seats. Lyla stifled a giggle as she noticed that the pattern of the carpet had imprinted on the side of his face. Shane then appeared in the doorway, looking furious, and sat down in silence.

No-one said a single word the whole way through dinner. Lyla could feel tension rolling off her brother and cousins the whole time. Nate's was directed at Shane and Lyla, because Lyla had found him out. Shane's was directed at Nate and Lyla, because she had soaked his favourite pair of sneakers. Jason's was directed solely at Lyla, because she had refused the vegetables. So as soon as she was full she dumped her plate on the side and left the room. She hurried up the stairs to discover that her door was still locked.

"SHANE!" she screeched as loud as she could.

"What?" he appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"My key?" she requested.

"Oh, right." He said, climbing up the stairs and producing and old-looking brass key. He unlocked the door for her, then she snatched the key off him, ran inside, and slammed the door.

"Hey!" she heard him protest from outside. She grinned and went over to her suitcases. She took out two identical sets of fairy lights, white ones with feathers, and carefully wound them round the posts of her bed. When she was done she turned them on, pushed her suitcases onto the floor, got into her pyjamas and put a DVD on.

She fell asleep about halfway through, and when Shane came to check on her about two hours later, he found the credits rolling and Lyla fast asleep in an uncomfortable-looking position with her duvet around her knees. He smiled, and carefully moved her into a more comfortable position, then pulled her duvet up around her shoulders, tucking her in. She murmured softly, and Shane brushed her hair off her face before leaving the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.

When Lyla awoke the next morning it was 8:30 and sunlight was streaming through her open curtains. She jumped out of bed, went into her bathroom for a shower and got herself ready for the day. She got dressed into a pair of jeans, some ballet pumps and a t-shirt with a big belt. She pushed her door open and discovered a silent household.

Lyla was not the sort of person who enjoyed silence when other things could be happening, and so she shoved open Shane's door and ran over to his bed. He was sleeping on his front with his head buried in his pillows. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard.

"Shane! Wake up! I need you to drive me into town."

He made no response, so she shook harder and talked louder.

"Shane! Wake UP!" Eventually she elicited some sort of response. He rolled blearily out of bed, and stretched up until he was standing. His eyes were only just open, though. He grabbed her by her upper arms, lifted her right off her feet and carried her over to the door. He set her down just outside, went back inside, shut the door in her face, and then turned the key. Lyla was left staring at his door in a mild state of shock.

But, she wasn't a Gray for nothing, so she hurried into Nate's room, crept quietly over to one of his electric guitars, and ran out. She hurried downstairs, plugged it into one of the amps in the music room she had noticed the day before, found a pair of mufflers and put them over her ears and turned the amp up to full volume.

Then she struck a guitar pick over the strings, and it produced a sound that hurt her ears even through the muffs. She grinned as she put the guitar down and heard three doors upstairs smash open, and three sets of angry, sleepy footsteps pound down the stairs.

"LYLA!" Nate roared angrily, and he, Shane and Jason appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realise it was turned up that loud!" she protested with a smirk.

"You are _so _grounded!" Shane told her, and she grinned wider.

"No, I'm not. You're not in charge of me, and Dad's not here. So, will you give me a lift into town now?" she begged, and Shane's eyes narrowed.

"Fine. Go get your purse and cell."

Lyla hugged him happily and shot out the room and upstairs.

"Are you crazy?" Nate enquired.

"No, but at least this way she'll be out of the house and we can get some more sleep."

"Ah," the other two nodded their comprehension and went back upstairs to bed. Shane found Lyla bouncing happily by the front door, so he unlocked it for her and took her round to his car.

"Aren't you getting dressed first?" she asked him, and he grinned. He was only in a pair of sweats, and his hair was all mussed up.

"No."

"Oh. Okay," she said, and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. He drove fast, and they made it into the high street in half an hour.

"Call if you have any problems," Shane told her as she jumped out of the car.

"Later," she said and slammed the door. Shane noticed a man holding a camera advancing on his car and so he took off as fast as he could, driving sleepily along the roads until he got back home. He left his car in the driveway, went back inside and then went back to bed.

Lyla gazed around her with considerable interest. There were plenty of shops around, so she headed for the first one. She could almost feel Shane's credit card burning a hole in her purse, so she piled up any clothes she liked, tried them all on and then paid with the card, using the pin she had swiped from his wallet at the same time as the card.

After three hours of clothes shopping she had a suitably extravagant new wardrobe suited to the new climate she was living in. She had bought mostly shorts, t-shirts or vests, swimwear and pretty summer dresses. She had also splurged on ten new pairs of shoes to match her various outfits, and now decided that she needed an outfit for the party that evening. She headed into a suitable looking shop and went up to the counter.

"Excuse me, but do you think I could leave my bags here while I look for an outfit?"

The girl behind the counter glanced up.

"Hey, you look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

"No, I just moved here to live with my brother Shane and my cousins."

"Ah. Alright, just write your name down on this piece of paper and we'll hold them for you."

"Thanks," Lyla said, scribbling her name down. The girl pulled it towards her.

"Lyla Gray?! As in, Shane Gray's little sister?"

Lyla rolled her eyes. "No duh."

"Here, why don't I help you pick out an outfit?" the girl offered, coming out from behind the counter.

"Um … sure."

Lyla dumped all her bags and then allowed herself to be led off to the changing rooms. After an hour of trying on seemingly endless dresses and getting increasingly hacked off with the over-friendly and over-chatty sales girl, Lyla grabbed the brightest dress she could see from the pile.

"I like this one best," she said with a hopeful smile, and the girl grinned.

"Excellent," she replied and led Lyla over to pay. It was a very nice dress, a bright purple with a tunic-like top part with triangle-shaped straps that tied at the top, a flattering neckline and small ruffles down the torso. The girl put it carefully in a bag as Lyla paid, and then handed over all her other bags. Altogether she had about fifteen, and her arms were tired after just five minutes of walking. The sun was pretty hot, so she went into the nearest shoe shop to find some shoes to match her dress. After a while she found the perfect pair of purple low-cut converse, paid for them, and then decided to go home.

She stood outside the shop, put on her new pair of drastically over-sized, bright blue sunglasses and hailed a taxi.

"Where to, love?" the taxi driver asked as she pushed and shoved all her bags into the back of the cab. She just about managed to squeeze in next to her shopping, and leaned forward slightly breathlessly.

"Um … I don't actually know the address, but it's Shane Gray's house. Do you know it?"

The cab driver smiled. "Honey, _everyone _knows that." He set his meter going and drove off. Lyla watched silently as the trees and posh condos flashed past.

When they eventually got back to her house the driver pulled the cab up in front of the gates, which were locked.

"Bastard!" Lyla exclaimed, and scrambled out of the car. She paid the driver and with much grunting and swearing managed to get all of her bags out of the car.

"Will you be able to get in?" the driver asked, leaning out of the window.

"Yeah, I'll climb over the gate if I have to. Believe me, I've done it before," she told him seriously, and he nodded and drove off. She dumped all her bags and stared at the gate for a few minutes. She refused to give in and call Shane, so she spent a while trying to decide the best route in. It was either over the top or reach through and press the button on the other side. She tried the latter but her arm wasn't long enough and so she was forced to try the first. Before trying she chucked all her shopping over the gate and onto the driveway. A few articles of clothing spilled out onto the stone. She had just put her hand and foot on the gate when a car driving past drew to a halt.

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?" a lady asked from the window. Lyla gave her a glance over her shoulder.

"Climbing over the gate," she replied with a 'duh' intonation. The lady frowned.

"And should you be?"

"Well, technically not, but as my ass of a brother forgot to leave the gates open for me I don't really have much of a choice."

"Ah," the lady said, and rolled her car window up and carried on driving. Lyla stared after the red car incredulously, then stuck two fingers up after her and started negotiating the gate. There weren't very many bars to put her feet on, so she had to rely on her arm strength a great deal. Eventually she reached the top of the gate. She paused to wipe her forehead, tie her hair back off her face and readjust her sunglasses, then started to shimmy down. It was a lot easier going down than up, and she made it down to the ground quickly. She jumped the last few feet, which was a bit of a mistake because the ground was further away than it looked and she landed funny.

"Shit!" she swore angrily, hopping around in circles until the pain receded. "He is _so _gonna pay for this!" she vowed through gritted teeth, then gathered up her scattered shopping and headed for the house. She pushed the front door open and went inside. There was no-one about, so she went upstairs and checked all the boys' rooms. To her amazement they were all still fast asleep. She went into her room and carefully put all her shopping away in her drawers and cupboards except her only non-clothing buy, which was twelve cans of spray paint. She shook one, then smiled happily and headed outside. She went round the side of the house into the large garage, leaving the paint by the side wall. She paused once inside for a minute to admire the three wildly expensive cars sitting inside it, then grabbed the long ladder lying on the floor. She dragged it back with difficulty to where she had left the paint, unfolded it, leaned it up against the side of the house, readjusted her sunglasses again and then picked up her paints.

When she started it was two in the afternoon, and she didn't finish until four. Her brother and cousins still showed no signs of life, but a small convoy of vans rolling up to the house caught her attention and so she stopped painting. She climbed back down, took down the ladder, put it away and then returned to admire her handiwork. In as many bright colours as she could she had written, "The retards Shane, Nate and Jason welcome you to their home." And she had drawn a pink and silver unicorn underneath it.

She nodded to herself and slipped in the back door. In the kitchen she found a catering company setting up, and on the rest of the ground floor there were people putting up party decorations everywhere. Lyla went up the stairs and paused at the top, munching an apple, to survey the 'organised' chaos below. At least the company seemed to know what they were doing. Lyla left them to it and went to wake her brother and cousins up.

She started with Shane. She tip-toed, real quiet-like, right over to his bed, then leaned over so her mouth was right next to his ear. Then she yelled "RISE AND SHINE!" as loud as she could. He jumped about a foot, yelling, and Lyla skedaddled. She decided to get Nate last, as his reaction would be the most fun to observe. So she went into Jason's room and shook him awake.

"Huh? Wazzup?" he muttered, almost to himself.

"It's four in the afternoon and you need to be up. You have a party this evening, remember?"

"Oh, right." He stumbled out of bed and into his bathroom. Lyla left the room and crossed the hall to Nate's. She once more made her way silently over to the bed, then put her face really close to Nate's, so their noses were almost touching. Then she poked his stomach. He batted her hand away without opening his eyes, but she did it again and his eyes flew open. He also jumped hugely, started swearing, and Lyla high-tailed it out of there, laughing her head off.

She went back into her bedroom and turned her Wii on. She spent the rest of the afternoon playing quite happily on tennis, golf and baseball, but then she tried bowling and managed to whack her hand on her bed post so hard it brought tears to her eyes. So she threw the remote down in disgust and left the room. She descended the stairs to find a thoroughly decorated house. As she passed through she admired the lights and pictures, then went into the kitchen. Shane was sitting at the table, Nate was raiding the fridge and Jason was filling a vase of flowers with water.

"So, what time's the big party tonight?" she asked, jumping onto one of the barstools.

"In an hour."

"Are you _joking_?! That's not nearly enough time to get ready!"

Shane's head snapped up. "You know you're not invited, right?"

"Not invited? There is no way that I am not attending, not when I bought a dress specially for it."

"You bought a dress? I thought dad said he blocked your account as a punishment."

"He did? It doesn't matter, I used your card anyway. Later!" she shot out of the kitchen and up into her room, turning the key in the lock from the inside and listening in satisfaction to Shane's raging from the other side. After a while she got bored, though, so she cranked up her music and started getting ready. She put her make-up on first: just mascara, minimal eyeliner and lipgloss. She tilted her head from side to side, then went over to her door, unlocking it and sticking her head out.

"Does anyone have any blusher?" she called out, and received three outraged "of course not!"s from the other occupants of the house. She retreated back into her room with a pout and got into her dress and converse. It did look rather nice, and she fixed her hair back with a sparkling silver headband. It fell at the back in long, dark, curly waves. Satisfied, she turned her music down and went downstairs to find the party already in full swing. There was a seething, boiling crowd, spotlights roving over it, and an enthusiastic DJ pumping out dance tracks at top volume. Lyla sat on the top step to watch. It was dark but for the spotlights and the neon pictures, and Lyla could see all the double doors open around the house.

As a drunken couple staggered past her and into one of the spare bedrooms, she hurried to her own and locked it, stringing the key onto her necklace so as not to lose it. Then she decided to brave the people, and made it downstairs. The music was overwhelmingly loud, so she pushed and shoved her way out into the garden. There were a great many people pointing and laughing at the words she had written earlier. Lyla could hear herself think better outside, and so she went round the back of the house and pulled open the door to the kitchen. It was very quiet in there, but she found a couple making out.

"Get out," she said, and they complied. They opened the door and a blast of noise raced through the room, so Lyla hurried to slam the door shut after them. She bolted it carefully, taking a moment to wonder why all the rooms in the house were lockable, then picked her way past platters of food to the telephone. She reached into her bra and pulled out the piece of paper with a phone number she had been keeping there until a point at which Nate, Shane and Jason were totally distracted. Now was a good time, so Lyla dialled the number carefully. She counted four rings, then a man picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, John? It's Lyla."

"Lyla?"

"Yeah, my mom sold Peter to you, remember?"

"Oh yeah, Lyla Gray! It's great to hear from you, honey. I expect you're phoning up to hear how Peter is?"

"Actually, I was phoning up to buy him back."

"You were? And where were you planning to get the money from?"

"My brother, Shane. He's lent me his credit card so I can pay now."

"Right you are. Just give me the card number and your address, and I'll ship him straight off."

Lyla did as requested, then started dancing for joy. "Oh thank you, thank you, John! When will he arrive?"

"I'll send him in his horse box as soon as I can, and he should be with you by next week at the latest."

"You are officially my favourite person in the whole world. Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Goodbye now."

"Bye!"

Lyla slammed the phone down and did a crazy happy dance around the kitchen for a few moments. Then she unbolted the door and headed out to join the party.

She had a great time until two in the morning, when two over-drunk guys spotted her.

"Why, hello there, sweet thing," one said. Lyla stopped dancing and backed off.

"Don't be scared, we just want to talk."

Lyla raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we're harmless," the first one said, leering at her. She glanced around to realise that they had backed her into a corner.

"Go away," she said in a firm voice. She was certain they wouldn't try anything in such a crowded place, but as she looked around she saw that everyone else was totally absorbed in something else. Lyla took a deep breath and tried to make a run for it, but one of them grabbed her tightly by the arm and hauled her to him.

"Don't be like that, sweet thing," he said, pressing her to him, running a hand up her bare leg and starting to push her dress up, and putting his nose up against hers. She bit it and then screamed as loud as she could.

"SHANE! HELP ME!"

The man flung her down and leaned over her. She felt a fire in her wrist as she landed on it. The other man reached to brush her hair out of her face, and she shivered, trying to pull away, feeling tears leaking down her cheeks, but then someone grabbed the first man by the shoulder, hauled him around and punched him in the face. Lyla hunched over as her cousins and brother set about firmly beating up the two men, and several other guys joined in when they saw what was going on. Some girls started screaming, but eventually the two men looked completely cowed. Lyla was hugging her knees, watching the fight as tears ran down her cheeks. Her wrist was agony, but she was watching her brother with deep pride. He stood up, a cut above his right eye, his shirt ripped, his tie loose and his jacket hanging off him, and turned to the silent, watching crowd.

"Party's over, people. Go home."

With a storm of mutterings the house slowly emptied. Shane ignored the people who came to say goodbye, leaving the job of getting people out to Nate and Jason. He hurried to Lyla where she was sitting in the corner and crouched down next to her protectively, putting a hand on her back.

"Are you alright?"

She turned a tear-stained face to him.

"Do I look alright?" she asked quietly, and Shane shook his head.

"No. Did you hurt your arm?" he enquired, reaching for it. She held it out to him. There were the beginnings of bruises from the man's fingers, and her wrist was slightly swollen.

"A lot." Lyla said, moving it away as he tried to touch it.

"Okay then," Shane said, swinging her up into his arms as easily as a doll.

"Hey!" she protested weakly, but he ignored her.

"I'm taking her to A&E," Shane told them as he strode past.

"Right behind you, dude," Nate said, herding the last few stragglers out and shutting the front door. Jason appeared from the side of the house.

"That's everyone out from upstairs."

"It's all good, you guys. Do you mind staying put and locking up while I go?" Shane asked, putting Lyla into the passenger seat of his jeep and getting into the driver's seat.

"Sure," Nate replied, pulling Jason back inside the house. Shane revved the engine and started driving, carefully glancing at Lyla every few seconds.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" she exclaimed as he swerved unintentionally.

"I'm worried about you!"

"Well if you don't stop worrying about me we'll _both _end up in A&E!" she protested.

"What if you go into shock?"

Lyla sighed and then squealed and put her hands over her eyes as Shane almost ran a deer down. She spent the next few minutes of the journey firmly _not _watching the road, which would have frustrated Shane had he not been so worried about her.

"You look pretty tonight," he ventured after about five minutes of silence.

"Um … thanks. You look good too."

"Thanks. So, do you often get into stupid situations?"

"Like that? No, I've never been around drunk twenty-year-olds before. Imagine what would have happened to me if I had, with no heroic big brother to protect me!"

He smiled at that. "So now I'm a hero?"

"Yes. You saved me. Thank you." She leaned across to place a kiss on his cheek, and he smiled.

"You know, for an annoying little sister, you're not too bad."

"Thanks. For a stupid big brother, you're not too bad either. Shit, watch the road!"

She put her hands back over her eyes. "I take my last compliment back."

When they finally arrived at the hospital, Shane pulled up right outside the doors.

"Shane, I think you have to park."

"Lyla, if my little sister's hurt I'll let my fame get me _anything_."

"Aw, gee, you're such a mushball."

"Shut up."

He pushed his door open, and the security guard that had been racing up to tell the car driver off backed away. Shane hurried round to Lyla's side, lifting her carefully up into his arms, despite her protests.

"Shane, my legs are fine!"

"I know, but you're tired and I don't want you to trip and fall."

"Oh. Okay. But you have to put me down as soon as we're inside, 'kay?"

"Sure, sure," he said, shutting her door with his foot and walking inside the double doors.

"Shane, put me down now!"

"No."

"Bastard."


	4. Argumental

Shane ignored her insult and made his way over to the desk, setting her gently on her feet and putting an arm around her waist. The receptionist/nurse lady glanced up, and immediately became all charm.

"Mr Gray? What can we do for you? You're not hurt, I hope?"

"No, but my sister is. She fell on her wrist."

"Oh, I see. Please take a seat in the waiting room and a doctor will be with you as soon as possible."

"Thank you very much."

Shane dragged a protesting Lyla through to the waiting area. It was almost empty: there were two little boys playing with two toy trucks and their mother was sitting in a seat holding a crying little girl; a man that looked perfectly fine; and a mother and twelve-year-old son. They glanced up when Shane and Lyla entered and every jaw dropped. Feeling very self-conscious, Lyla took a seat against the wall. Shane sat down next to her.

"Try to keep your wrist still," he ordered. Lyla waved it from side to side.

"Bite me," she said, leaning her head back against the wall.

"What happened to the sweet, caring sister?"

"Her brother almost killed her with his crazy-ass driving."

"Oh. Right."

They sat in silence for several seconds, then Shane noticed an acoustic guitar propped up against the wall. Lyla glanced up at him to find his gaze fixated on the guitar.

"Oh, just go get it and play it!" she exclaimed in exasperation after he didn't move for five minutes. He grinned and got up, striding over to the guitar.

"Whatcha gonna play, superstar?" Lyla teased as he sat back down next to her.

"Any requests?"

"Well, how about that song you wrote for your fringey girlfriend?"

"Don't call her that!"

"What, girlfriend?"

"No, fringey."

"But she _is_."

"Don't call her it."

"Shane, I think you're missing the point. She _is _fringey, so I call her that."

"Well, don't!"

"Oh, just play the goddamn song!"

"Fine!"

Shane struck the first few chords, and the other occupants of the room perked up. Lyla shut her eyes to listen as he sang through the words, then when he finished to a spontaneous round of applause from the other injured people, she opened them again.

"You sounded better on the CD," she told him. He grabbed her in a headlock and ruffled her hair thoroughly.

"Shane … no, lemme go – stop it! Gah, you … let go!"

He chuckled and released her. She gave him a death glare as she tidied her hair up, and he just smirked. Then a doctor opened a door and propelled a teenage boy with his leg in a cast out.

"Right, Lyla Gray?"

Lyla shook her head. "No, all these other people were here first," she protested, and Shane quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What? That wouldn't be fair. I'm not specialer than any of them."

"That's not even a word."

"Well, I just said it so it must be."

"It's not in the dictionary."

"How do you know? Have you ever read the dictionary?"

As they bickered the doctor beckoned the healthy-looking man into his room. They were still arguing when he came back out, looking no different.

"All I'm saying is that if you woke up earlier you would have more time in your day."

"Yeah, but if I woke up as early as you I wouldn't be able to stay awake this late. How are you still up?"

"Sugar. But you'll never see the morning."

"Now you sound like a criminal in a horror movie. 'You won't live to see the morning.'"

"I do not!"

"Yeah, you do."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

There was a brief silence.

"Do not!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"No, you!"

"No, you."

"I said it first, so you have to."

"No I don't! Just because you said it first doesn't mean it's true."

"Yeah it does!"

"Well I'm better looking than you so _you _should shut up."

"No you're not! I'm a girl, and girls are _always _better-looking."

"Well, I'm the oldest."

"Well, I'm the youngest."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"It would if you weren't a retard."

"I'm not a retard!"

The mother and son appeared out of the doctor's room, and the other mother herded her sons and daughter in.

"Yes, you are. You never understand what I'm saying."

"I do, you just don't make sense! Like, ever."

"Like, ever, innit blood?"

"Don't mock me!"

"Don't mock me!"

"Stop copying me!"

"Stop copying me!"

"Oh, just shut up."

"Oh, just shut up."

"Gah, stop it!"

"Gah, stop it!"

There was another brief pause.

"Innit, blood."

"Lyla, please just _shut _the bloody _fuck _up!"

"Yeah, like, wha'eva! You gonna pu' a gun to my 'ead, blood?"

"_Shut up_!"

"Whoa, keep your knickers on."

Shane made a furious, exasperated noise. He was about to soundly tell her off when the doctor finished with the other lady.

"Right, Lyla Gray now, please."

"Coming, doc," Lyla said, getting to her feet.

"Are you going to behave?" Shane asked her, walking next to her.

"Only if he's as good as Carlisle."

"Who the bloody hell is Carlisle?"

"Edward's father/creator dude."

"I'm not even going to ask."

"Read Twilight."

"Isn't that a girl's book?"

"So?"

Lyla pushed the door open and entered the consulting room.

"Take a seat here, please, Lyla. Mr Gray, you can take a seat over there. So how did your daughter hurt her arm?"

Lyla roared with laughter, and Shane frowned. "She's my sister, actually, Doctor."

"Oh, sorry. So, Miss Gray, how did you do this?"

Lyla became completely serious. She glanced at Shane, and he was staring at her worriedly. She understood. If the media found out what had really happened their family would be on the front page of every magazine.

"I … um … fell."

"Miss Gray, I can assure you that no details of the circumstances of your accident will leave this room. So, do you want to tell me how you _really _acquired those bruises and this sprain?"

"It's just a sprain? Phew, I was worried it was broken. Well, I was at this party at home and these two really drunk guys came up to me and started messing with me; I tried to run away but one grabbed me and then pushed me and I fell funny on my wrist and Shane came up with - "

"Breathe," Shane interjected. She gulped down a lungful of air and carried on.

"Shane came over with Nate and Jason and some other dudes and they beat the shit out of the mean guys for me and then Shane bundled me into the car and nearly killed a deer and crashed and then we ended up here."

"Right," the doctor took the rush of information very well, scribbling down a few points on a clipboard. "Well, Lyla, it _is_ just a sprain, so I'm going to give you this tubey-grip to put on."

"This what?"

"It's a bandage that fits a bit like an arm-warmer but tighter, and will stop you moving your wrist too much. It will hurt for about a week, I should think, because you fell on it pretty hard."

He slipped the bandage carefully over her hand, and she poked her thumb through the hole designed for it.

"Oh, that looks _fit_," Lyla said, glaring at it. The doctor smiled, and turned to Shane.

"Right, you should hold onto these for her and make sure she takes one when her wrist hurts, but no more than four a day, and at no less than four-hour intervals, okay?"

"Sure thing. Anything else?"

"Yes. I think you should take her home now and put her to bed. She's overtired, and she might still go into shock. If she does just comfort her and give her plenty of water."

"Will do, Doc. Thank you very much."

Shane shook the doctor's hand while Lyla hid giggles behind coughs, and then they both left the room. The waiting area was empty, and Shane hurried Lyla out to his car, which was exactly where he had left it. He opened her door for her, and hurried round to his side. To his astonishment, she slammed the door shut and then opened it again before climbing in.

"What was that for?" he asked in astonishment as she put her seatbelt on.

"I wanted to prove that I don't need you to help me the whole time."

"Okay then."

He turned the car on and pulled out of the hospital. He glanced over at Lyla, expecting to see her with her hands firmly over her eyes, but she was asleep already, her head leaning against the seatbelt. Shane smiled. She was brilliantly irritating, but she did look really cute when she was asleep.

When he reached home he left the car right in front of the door, went round to Lyla and unclipped her seatbelt, then carefully lifted her up into his arms. He once more slammed the door with his foot. Jason opened the door as Shane came up the stairs with Lyla, her head lolling.

"Thanks, dude," Shane said, carrying on through the house. It was about three thirty in the morning, and Shane was exhausted. Jason locked the front door and followed him up the stairs. Shane laid Lyla very cautiously down on her bed and then had a dilemma.

"What should I do now?" he asked as Nate came up behind him.

"Um, go to bed?" Nate suggested helpfully. Shane glared at him.

"No, about Lyla. I don't want to leave her in her dress but I'm sure as hell not taking it off. That would just be … ew."

Both boys gazed at the sleeping girl.

"Hmm." Nate tilted his head to one side. "Maybe you should take off her headband-thing and her shoes, and then just leave her in her dress."

"But won't she be uncomfortable?"

"I don't know, I've never worn a dress to bed before, have I?"

"No, I guess not," Shane replied with a chuckle. "Okay."

He moved up to Lyla and supported her head vigilantly while he removed her silver headband. Then he slipped her shoes off her feet, and put them down by the side of her bed.

"Well, the dress does look quite comfy," Nate said with a smile as Lyla rolled over and muttered something in her sleep. Shane grinned and planted a kiss to her forehead as she frowned, one hand extended as though to fight something off.

"Night, Lyles," he said, and then he and Nate left the room.

Shane rolled into bed almost as soon as he could, leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor and getting into his old sweats and t-shirt. He fell asleep pretty much straight away.

Lyla wasn't having pleasant dreams. There were dark shapes all around her, bony hands reaching for her. She could see a field full of light and flowers in the distance. She tried to run to it but it got no closer. She tried to push the stretching arms away with one hand, but it had no effect. They tangled in her hair, and then Lyla caught a glimpse of their faces. They were the men from the party. Lyla drew back in terror, only to back into them again. They were surrounding her, clutching at her, tangling her hair.

In her bed, she twisted and writhed, her dress getting tangled around her body. Her hands stretched out to fight off an invisible foe, and her breathing was wild and heavy.

The dark figures in her head took on more substance, and now they were trying to pull her to them. Her whole body was in a fire-like state of agony, and she struggled violently to get away from everything. Maybe she could reach that glowing field ahead this time … she dashed for it, and this time it allowed her to reach it. Then she put her first foot down on the scent-laden grass, and found no ground. She tumbled down, down, and let out a piercing scream.

The next thing she knew, she was being roughly awoken by a glass of water in the face. She coughed and spluttered. Shane and Jason were hovering over her, looking petrified.

"Lyla, what happened?" Jason asked. She didn't speak, couldn't speak, fear-fuelled adrenaline coursing through her. She stared up at them with wide, terrified eyes. Then she reached her arms up for Shane, seeking the comfort of her brother's embrace, feeling like a little child again. She remembered that she used to get nightmares when she was small, and Shane would always come and get into her bed and keep the nightmares away for her. She felt like that little girl again, crying into Shane's shoulder as he held her tight.

"What was your nightmare about, Lyles?"

"The one it used to be, with arms reaching for me. But, Shane, this time they had faces! They were the men at the party."

Shane turned to look over his shoulder at Jason.

"You can say 'I told you so' now."

"I don't want to."

There was a brief pause in which Lyla's sobs calmed down as Shane rocked her gently, sitting next to her on the bed.

"But I did bloody tell you," Jason said with a smile. Shane shook his head in exasperation.

"Quoting Batman, Jase?" he asked with a grin. Jason chuckled.

"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I can see you got this, so I'm going back to bed."

He retreated out of the room and shut the door gently behind him. Lyla looked up at Shane, her eyes all red and puffy.

"My dress is really uncomfy," she admitted, and Shane laughed aloud.

"You go to the bathroom and get into your pyjamas, and then we're going to talk this nightmare through. You remember that's what the doctor said we ought to when we went to see him when you were small?"

She nodded and made her way over to the bathroom. Shane got himself into her bed and decided it was much comfier than his own. When she eventually came out he had fallen asleep. She smiled and climbed into bed, snuggling up to him. Even though he was a stupid, annoying, retarded big brother, he did help to keep the bad dreams away. A bit like a giant teddy bear, except not so cute. Lyla shut her eyes and fell back to sleep quickly.

**Hey you guys! I'm sorry it's so short … I kinda just lost inspiration. But don't worry, Peter's going to arrive in the next chapter and that's sure to cause a stir :D**

**And I just want to say thank you so much to all my reviewers! You guys officially ROCK!**

**And thanks also to everyone who's added either me or this story to their favourites. You guys rock too!**

**Reviews help an author become a better person, people, so please leave a review to tell me what you think! It'll only take a minute or two … hint, hint!**

**I love you all.**


	5. Peter

A week later, Lyla was lying on the front lawn watching with considerable interest as the company Shane had hired attempted to scrub her graffiti off the wall. She had originally gone outside intending to sunbathe, but had got bored after two minutes. She rolled over onto her back and let the sun warm her body. Shane, Nate and Jason had gone to the recording studio five minutes down the road. Shane had refused to take Lyla, preferring to leave her to her own devices at home. Lyla smirked to herself, wondering how long it would be before he learnt that leaving Lyla home alone with nothing to do was _never _the wisest course of action.

Lyla heard an engine get closer, and then make the turn onto their driveway. She leapt to her feet with a shout of joy as a jeep towed a horsebox up to the house. She left her flip-flops where they were and ran towards the vehicle. A man got out and waited for her to reach him.

"You Lyla Gray?" he asked.

"That's me! Did you bring Peter?" she enquired breathlessly, heading around to the back of the horsebox.

"Yeah, he's in there. Stand back," the man warned as he opened the doors and let the ramp down.

"PETER!" Lyla cried, and rushed up the ramp. The little bay horse inside turned his head to see her, and whickered in joy. She gave him a massive hug around the neck, then untied his lead-rope from the iron ring and carefully backed him out. Her dress swished around her thighs as she helped him find his footing.

"Right, you need to sign here, little lady, and then I'll leave the horsebox round the back and be off, 'kay?"

She nodded and signed where he indicated, still holding onto Peter's lead rope. Then she gave the man a spontaneous hug, and leapt up onto Peter's back. She grabbed onto his mane and urged him down the drive and onto the road. Her bare feet kicked his sides, encouraging him up to a canter. He swung along happily, and Lyla felt something akin to bliss as the wind blew against her face and wafted her hair out behind her.

After a ten minute ride she reached the studios. A barrier was there to prevent unwanted vehicles entering, but Lyla and Peter were equal to that, and Peter sailed over it easily. A security guard watched in astonishment as Lyla made Peter climb the steps at the front of the building and enter through the double doors. Once inside, she walked Peter over to the desk.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Shane Gray?" she said, and the receptionist screamed in shock as she glanced up to come face-to-whiskery chin with Peter.

"Down the hall, third door on the right," she gasped out, and Lyla smiled her thanks and got Peter to trot off down the corridor. She counted doors as they went past, then turned Peter at the third on the right. He knew the drill and put his head against it to push it open, and then walked inside.

"LYLA!" Shane yelled in outrage from inside the booth as she ducked her head in through the door.

"Look, Shane, Peter got here!"

"Who the bloody hell is Peter?" Shane demanded, pulling off his headphones.

"Her horse, dude," Jason reminded him.

"Lyla, get that animal out of here!"

Lyla dismounted, ignoring the various scared-looking people at the controls and reached up to cover Peter's ears.

"Don't call him 'that animal', you'll hurt his feelings."

Peter farted really noisily, and Nate and Jason tried to swallow their laughs. Shane whipped his head round to glare at them.

"Don't encourage her! Lyla, I want you to take that horse and go home, and we'll talk about this when we're done here."

"You forgot the magic word," she taunted as Peter started investigating the controls behind her.

"Lyla, stop h-" Shane managed to get out before Peter shoved all the controls and all three boys' headphones produced an earsplitting screech that temporarily deafened them. The personnel in the room took the opportunity to flee, edging past Peter and out into the corridor. Lyla had a great time mouthing at her brother and cousins and pretending they were shouting when they talked, but then Shane got up, left the booth, picked her up, flung her up onto Peter's back and then pushed the horse outside, out of the building, past the barrier and out onto the road.

"If you come back here neither you nor that … _horse_ will ever see the light of day again, do you understand?"

"I got it. Chillax, dude. I'm going, mkay?"

"Just leave!"

"I said I'm going!" Lyla said, and turned Peter, who kicked up his heels as he went past Shane. Shane watched their retreating figures and growled to himself, then turned and went back inside to finish the recording session.

~x~

When Shane, Nate and Jason eventually returned home they found Peter grazing on the front lawn and Lyla conspicuous only by her absence. They all immediately grew wary and carefully made their way up the drive, ready to duck and cover at a moments notice. They managed to get in the front door and all the way through into the kitchen without being harmed, and they began to relax a little.

Nate went over to the fridge to grab a Coke, and chucked a Root Beer to Shane. In the cupboard, Lyla grinned in anticipation, watching through the crack in the doors. Shane and Nate opened their cans at the exact same time, and the drink exploded out into their faces. Lyla fell out of the cupboard, almost paralysed with laughter.

"You…" Shane was so angry he couldn't get the words out. Lyla couldn't talk either, she was laughing so much. So Nate said something he knew would shut her up.

"Lyla, school starts in two days."

Her laughter cut off instantly, and her jaw dropped.

"Are you _serious_?" she hissed.

"Sure. I'm going, too. We'll both do the first two weeks, and then you're coming on tour with us so we'll do our work on the bus."

Lyla sighed in massive relief and sat down at the table.

"Phew, I thought you were gonna make me stay here by myself."

"Well, dad's not here and we can't leave you by yourself," Shane said, also taking a seat, looking marginally less angry than before.

"Well, that's a relief. Who else is coming on tour with us?" Inside Lyla was praying _let Caitlyn be coming, pranking possibilities … _

"Well, we're allowed one guest each. I'm taking Mitchie, Nate's taking Caitlyn," Shane paused to shoot a death-glare at Nate, "and Jason's got his friend Lucas coming. The rest of the band take the other bus."

Lyla screamed with joy and gave first Jason, then Shane a massive hug around the neck.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"But you have to be good," Shane warned once he had managed to push her away. She pretended to polish a halo and then started to jump around, too excited to stay still for even a second. The three boys watched her in amazement as she bounced around for a few moments longer. Then she froze mid-leap, and pivoted around.

"What school am I going to?" she asked urgently, leaning in closer to them. Without realising it, Shane leaned back in fear.

"Just the local high school. There's no point sending you to a private school because you'll only be there about eight weeks in the whole year."

Lyla cheered loudly and bounded out the room.

"Where are you going?" Nate called after her. She stuck her head back around the door.

"To pick out my outfit for school, of course! One has to make a good impression."

Leaving them to mull over her words, she hurried up the stairs and into her room, then started pulling out all the clothes she owned. Considering the recent shopping spree with Shane's credit card, she had a lot, and it didn't take long before her floor, bed and desk were entirely covered in clothes.

~x~

The next day, Lyla was forced under threat of death to tidy her room by Shane. It took her almost three hours, especially as she wasn't allowed to just throw everything into a cupboard. She sulked the whole time, and turned the heaviest rock music she owned up to full volume. When she had cleaned everything to Shane's satisfaction she headed outside to see Peter before Shane or Jason could think of any other chores she needed to do. She leaned over the fence and called, and Peter trotted up. She stroked his nose, and he snorted happily.

"Do you miss Montana too, Peter?" she asked, scratching his forehead. He didn't reply, obviously, but she saw Shane bearing down on her. She was over the fence and on Peter's back in a matter of seconds, and then she set Peter off at a gallop. He cleared the fence gamely and then pelted off down the road, leaving Shane to eat his dust. Lyla laughed as the breeze helped to cool her face. She loved to ride bareback, and Peter was so good that he did exactly as he was told even without a saddle or bridle.

She swung him left and headed for the beach. She cantered him up and down in the surf, enjoying her last few hours of holidays before she had to start working again. The sun started to set in a glorious riot of colour, sinking into the golden sea. She dismounted and sat on the sand to watch it. The sea looked very tempting, especially with the sun glittering off it. Lyla glanced around but could see no-one around, so she hurried down to the water. She dipped first a toe, and then her whole foot in. The water was warm and incredibly inviting, so Lyla abandoned all dignity and plunged in face first. She dove under the waves, ignoring the sting of salt-water in her eyes and revelling in the peace and quiet of the ocean. The water was very clear, and looked wonderful against the setting sun.

Her short summer dress swirled around her body, and her hair twisted around her like seaweed. She revelled in the calm for a moment, and then broke the surface in an explosion of spray. She took in a huge lungful of oxygen and leaned back to float on the top of the water, riding the swell while keeping an eye on Peter to make sure he didn't go too far. She started humming softly to herself, a gentle lullaby as the moon came up and the stars twinkled down at her. The sea beneath her was warm and mysterious, so she cut off her singing and dove beneath the waves again. She cut through the water back towards the beach, and was suddenly grabbed around the waist and hauled bodily from the water. She did the obvious thing and screamed. The person ignored her screaming and carried her from the surf onto the beach, then laid her down. She breathed heavily as she sat up.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked her unknown kidnapper.

"Finding you. Your brother and cousins have been most worried about you."

Lyla snorted. "Oh, sure. Who are you?"

"I'm Seth. And I know that you're Lyla. Hi. It's nice to meet you." He held out a hand, and Lyla examined what she could see of him in the darkness. All she could really make out was blonde hair. So she took his hand and shook it.

"I'll take you back to the house. It's quite a walk, though," he warned. Lyla laughed.

"Amateur. PETER!" she yelled as loud as she could, and after a couple of seconds the little bay horse appeared out of the night and trotted up to her. She leapt on and then extended a hand down to her 'saviour'. He looked at it as though he wasn't sure what to do with it. "What, you don't want a ride?" she queried.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That's what you want me to do." He ignored her hand and jumped up behind her, putting a hand on either side of her waist to hold himself on. She grinned and kicked Peter up into a canter. Seth sat very well, moving with the horse like an expert.

"Do you ride?" she asked after a few moments of silence. She heard his low chuckle in her ear.

"Yes. My parents breed Arabians, so it's probably useful."

"Oh," she replied, feeling foolish for some reason she couldn't place. Stupid boy. Eventually Lyla could see her home all lit up, and Peter sped up, eager to get to bed. Lyla patted him affectionately, leaning forward to scratch his neck. Behind her, Seth shifted, and Lyla ignored him. She turned Peter on to the driveway and trotted him up to the gate.

"You can get off now," she told Seth, and he slid off at once, looking somewhat relieved. Lyla rolled her eyes and reached for the catch of the gate, swinging it open and riding Peter through. Once she was well in she jumped down and gave Peter a hug, and then made her way back. She shut the gate and climbed over it. Seth was waiting for her still. Without a word she led him back up to the house and pushed the door open. The house looked and sounded pretty empty, and Lyla threw her head back in despair, her wet hair slapping against her back.

"Idiots," she muttered angrily, and turned to make a remark to Seth. She stopped, distracted, because she could see that his whole front was utterly soaked with water. She grinned, aware that her wet clothes and body pressed against his on the horse had evidently caused it. She hoped the shirt was expensive, because that would be good revenge for him pulling her out of the water and scaring her.

"Can I get you a clean shirt?" she suggested with a smirk, glancing up at his face. He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Right, come upstairs. You can borrow one of Nate's. I reckon you're about the same size."

He followed her up the stairs. She took a deep breath then waded through the mess in Nate's room to the cupboard, hurriedly selecting a random t-shirt and then fleeing from the room. She could have sworn she saw something _move _under a pile of dirty laundry. She handed the shirt over to Seth and then slammed the door behind her, leaning against it.

"I hate boys," she announced. With a grin, Seth stripped his wet shirt off and threw the dry one on over his head. Despite herself, Lyla found his tanned body very attractive, and when she coupled it with his blonde-surfer type haircut and nice face, she found herself a lot more drawn to him than she wanted to be. He made his way back downstairs and she followed.

"So, you gonna call your brother?" he asked after several moments of awkward silence. She shrugged.

"I think I'll let him look for a little while longer."

Seth didn't argue. "So, d'you have anything good to do around here?" he asked, poking his head into the ballroom.

"We can go on the Wii in the games room, if you like."

He grinned. "Do you have Mariokart?"

"Of course! I _own _at that game," she informed him with a little arrogant toss of her hair. He smirked.

"Then bring it on, mini-Gray."

She marched past him into the games room and shoved the game in, then picked up one of the remotes. "Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong," she said.

~x~

An hour later they were in hysterics for no apparent reason, rolling around on the sofa, clutching their sides.

"Why … why are we laughing?" Lyla managed to gasp out.

"No … idea!" Seth replied, trying to breathe. Then they both heard the front door slam open and Shane roar "_LYLA_!" Lyla's face turned ashen.

"_Shit!_" she said, abandoning the Wii remote. Seth grabbed her arm.

"Hey, we just got back about ten minutes ago, didn't we? I found you passed out on the beach and brought you back here."

Lyla grinned. "Ah, subterfuge. You're my kind of guy!" she stole a glance at the clock. It was almost eleven, two full hours after Seth had found her and she had returned home.

"Yeah, but act woozy. Lie on the sofa."

She did as she was told, shutting her eyes, and slowing her breathing as Seth slipped out of the door. She heard Shane's angry enquiry but couldn't make out any other voices, so she waited. After a short time the door crashed open and Shane stormed in.

"Where the hell did you go?! We looked everywhere for you."

In response she raised a hand to her head. "Do you mind? I have a headache."

Seth hurried to give their hastily contrived excuse, and Shane calmed down a little.

"Lyla, what were you doing on the beach in the first place?" he asked, kneeling down by her head. She glanced at him.

"I was riding Peter along the sand and then I decided to go for a swim but I felt all dizzy and I came out of the water. I was about to get on Peter, and then … then I don't remember."

"You stupid child," Shane said, turning and dragging Seth out of the room. Nate followed, along with several other guys, leaving Lyla alone in the room with Jason. Lyla sat up.

"Hey, Jase!" she greeted him cheerfully. He frowned.

"But you were all dizzy and ill …?"

"No, that was just to stop me getting in trouble with Shane," she explained brightly. Jason's puzzled expression cleared.

"Ah, I think I see."

"Oh." There was a short pause. "Do you want to play Mariokart?"

"Sure."

~x~

**Hey you guys! I just wanted to say a splendiferous thank you to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome, thanks!**

**I hope you like this latest instalment! And yes, we'll see a lot more of Seth, I think. **

**Now, I need some help. What mayhem is Lyla going to cause at school? I have a few ideas but I can't decide, so if you guys can come up with something that would be great. Bear in mind that Nate's going to be at school, and so will Mitchie and Caitlyn. Maybe something that you've done/ has happened at your school?**

**And I'm sorry I'm being so slow updating in general, I've had a tonne of work to do over the holidays :(**


	6. School

After being thoroughly chewed out by Shane Lyla was ordered to bed, and went without protest. The next morning she was awoken by her alarm clock at seven thirty. She pushed it off her nightstand, and it hit the floor and stopped ringing. With a groan she got out of bed and staggered into the bathroom.

Half an hour later she made it downstairs to find Nate eating his cereal. Lyla also grabbed a bowl, still half-asleep, like Nate, and shoved it fast down her throat. Nate made an obvious effort to focus, as he had something important to impart.

"Lyla, at school don't talk to me unless I talk to you, okay?"

She nodded boredly and carried on eating. It was what she had been expecting, after all. Then, to both of their surprise, Shane entered the room. He was bright-eyed and cheerful.

"Morning, my little school gremlins!" he bounded over to the table and ruffled Lyla's hair. She slapped his hand away and fixed her hair carefully, then dumped her bowl on the side.

"How can you be so _awake _at this time of the morning? I still feel like I should be in bed." She complained as he took a seat, pulling out a magazine.

"Oh, I haven't been to bed yet. Caitlyn dared me to drink six Red Bulls and so I did. After that there was no chance of sleep."

Lyla grinned and left the room. She could hear Shane's chatter all the way up the stairs, and one remark had her turning right around and sprinting back into the kitchen.

"There is no way in _hell _that Nate is driving me to school! Is that even legal?"

Shane smirked and shrugged. "I dunno. But you _will_ ride with Nate. You don't have a choice."

"Shane, if I wanted to be killed painfully today I would go and piss off an alligator."

"Lyla, I'm not driving you, so you're going with Nate. The school bus went already."

"No chance."

She shot out of the kitchen and bounded up into Jason's room. She flung the door open.

"Wakey wakey, Jase! I need you to give me a lift to school."

Jason raised his head blearily from his pillow and blinked once or twice to focus.

"Go ask Shane," he muttered, and put his head down again. Lyla shook him.

"He's high on Red Bull and he says I have to ride with Nate."

"So go with Nate!"

"Jason, I was planning to live beyond this morning."

"Ugh, fine!" Jason exclaimed and stumbled out of bed, going straight to the bathroom. Lyla went to her room to pick up her books and bag, and then went to wait by the front door. Jason eventually made it downstairs.

"You're going to be the death of me, Smiler."

She grinned; she hadn't heard that pet name in forever. He pushed the front door open.

"Hey, Nate, do you want a ride?" he called over his shoulder. Nate appeared down the stairs with a grin.

"Yes please!"

Shane came out of the kitchen and said goodbye, then headed out the back door into the garden. Lyla had no idea where he was going, but didn't really care. She got into the front seat of Jason's BMW and strapped herself in. Nate scowled and got in the back seat. It took them ten minutes to get to school, and Jason dumped them at the gates, then sped off, probably back to bed. As promised, Nate immediately strode off, away from Lyla, and greeted several jock-types who slapped him on the back and sort of absorbed him into their pack.

Lyla sighed. She would have appreciated him at least showing her to the office. But then a flashy-looking car drew up to the kerb behind her and a sandy head bounded out, waved goodbye to the driver and walked up to her, holding up his hand for a high-five.

"If it isn't my little Kelpie!"

She gave Seth the high-five, and then a puzzled look. "Your little Kelpie?"

"Sure, because I pulled you out of the surf. I know kelpies are supposed to drag people down, not the other way round, but whatever," he explained, unfazed. She smiled.

"So, I suppose you want help getting to the office?" he suggested, and without a further word draped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her forwards towards the school. It was a relatively modern-looking place, with pale walls and colourful posters strung up everywhere. It was also built on a hill, and Lyla was grateful that she hadn't decided to walk. Seth chattered away nineteen-to-the-dozen, explaining everything she would ever need to know about the school. She paid careful attention – she didn't want to make a fool out of herself on her first day by not knowing something. Seth pulled her past a group of heavily made-up tanned beauties, who waved and tossed their hair at him. He grinned back, but continued walking.

They eventually reached the office, and Seth propelled Lyla inside, striding up to the woman sitting behind the desk.

"Ms. Reeves?"

"Yes, Mr Forcett?"

"This is Lyla Gray. She's new."

The woman looked up at Lyla, who smiled absently, trying to commit to memory the location of the CCTV camera in the room.

"You're Shane Gray's little sister? He was here a few years ago. And also Nate Taylor's cousin, I see," she said, scanning her computer screen quickly.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Right, here's a list of your classes, dear. Have a nice day."

"Thanks," Lyla replied, following Seth out of the door, examining her timetable.

"Ugh, history first period."

"What do you have second?" Seth asked, trying to lean over her shoulder to see. She pushed him away without looking up.

"Biology."

"Awesome! I'm in that too. The teacher – Mr Braithwate - is a total bastard, but I'm sure we'll find a way to have some fun."

Lyla's eyes glinted. "I'm sure we will."

~x~

She got bored about ten minutes into her history lesson, and was almost asleep on her desk by the end of it. Then the bell rang and she shoved her books into her bag and left the classroom. She grabbed the arm of a girl who had also been in the class.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me where biology is?"

The girl glanced her up and down. "Down the corridor and take a left. Aren't you Shane Gray's sister?"

Lyla grinned. "Nope! Thanks." Then she hurried off as fast as she could and found Seth leaning against the wall outside a classroom.

"This is Biology?" she asked, and peeked inside.

"Sure is. C'mon," he said, and indicated that she should follow him in. He grabbed a black worktop for them both and sat on one of the two stools. She dropped her bag by her feet and took the other one. They were chatting happily when the teacher entered.

"Talking will stop," the teacher said, dumping some folders on his desk. The classroom quietened, and Lyla turned to watch the Mr Braithwate. He took a slurp of coffee. He wore a suit with pale pants and a light blue tie, and his hair was short and dark. He also wore glasses and had stubble on his chin. Lyla quirked an eyebrow at Seth, who nodded.

"Take the bunsen burner on your desk, one between two, and light it. I will come around with dishes of the chemical you need to heat."

As he handed the little dishes out, Lyla started talking to Seth again. He lit the bunsen with a match from the side. Lyla picked it up by the base.

"It's not very clean," she remarked pedantically, and then pulled it back, holding it behind her head as Seth grabbed for it.

"Lyla, don't play with fire," he told her, and reached for it again. Suddenly Lyla felt something bump against her hand. She twisted and pulled the bunsen back quickly, but the damage was done. Mr Braithwate's pale coloured pants were well and truly aflame.

"Shit!" Lyla exclaimed, and grabbed the nearest girl's scarf and started beating the fire with it. Next to her, Seth was in hysterics.

"What are you do- "

Mr Braithwate's eyes bulged as he saw what Lyla had done. He took a deep breath, then screamed like a little girl and ran from the classroom. Lyla finally let the laughter escape and collapsed onto the desktop. Most of the class were laughing too, and a couple of people clapped her on the back.

"You're the new girl, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Lyla."

"Didn't I see you with Nate Taylor this morning?"

"I doubt it. He told me to stay away from him."

"Why?"

"I guess he finds me annoying."

"Ah. What did you do to annoy him?"

Lyla was getting irked by the seemingly never-ending questions. "I chucked a couple of water balloons at him."

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I felt like it."

"Why did you feel like it?"

"I don't know!"

"Oh. How did he react?"

"He swore a lot. Then my brother locked me in my room."

"Hmm. Isn't Nate gorgeous, though?"

Lyla started in surprise. "Nate? Gorgeous? Um … no!"

The girl who had asked the question tossed her hair and giggled. "Yes he is! And so are the rest of Connect 3. Don't tell me you wouldn't do Shane Gray if he asked you to!"

Lyla gagged. "That is wrong on so many levels. I wouldn't have anything to do with him if I could help it."

"Why not? He's so hot."

"Just … no. Ugh." Lyla felt horrifically sick. More girls came to join in the conversation.

"You must be the only girl in the world who doesn't think he's hot. Just think of those eyes … and that face … and that body!"

Lyla covered her ears. "I really don't like talking about this. Can we change the topic of conversation?"

"Why should we? The hotness of Connect 3 is a topic that could sustain a lifelong conversation. Like, did you see when Nate's shirt came off at that last concert?"

Lyla started humming to herself. And then an arm shot out of the crowd and pulled her out of the thick of it. Seth grinned as she gasped in relief.

"I need fresh air. I feel ill."

"I can understand that."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I would expect you to do the same if people started talking that way about my sister."

"I would, I promise."

She was making her way over to the window when a voice rang out over the intercom thing.

"Would Lyla Gray and Seth Forcett please report to the principal's office."

Lyla rolled her eyes. "Ugh, Shane will kill me for getting sent to the principal's office on the first day."

"Hey, no worries. C'mon, I'll show you the way. It might be a good route to recognise, I expect you'll be making this trip a lot."

Lyla grinned as they strode off down the corridor.

~x~

The principal spent half an hour telling Lyla that it was bad to set people on fire, inquired after Shane, put her and Seth in an hour of detention after school and then wished her good luck with the rest of her day. He ushered them both out of the office and shut the door in their faces. Lyla was once again left staring at a closed door.

"Shane's going to eat me alive."

Seth just grinned and dragged her off to the next class.

She texted Shane just before detention to tell him she wouldn't be home for a while, and her phone went off just before she went into the classroom where detention would be held. OK Go's "It's A Disaster" emanated from her pocket (her set ringtone for when Shane called) and she whipped it out and picked up, too smart to hold it to her ear. She held it out at arms length and waited for the shouting and swearing to stop, and then gingerly put it back to her ear.

"Shane?"

"Lyla?! What the bloody hell are you playing at, getting detention on your first day? What did you do?"

"Set fire to my biology teacher. But it was an accident before you say anything!"

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"Try picking me up in an hour?"

There was a short silence on the other end of the phone, and then Shane called her something very rude, said a very terse "yes," and hung up. Lyla grinned and shoved her phone away.

She wandered into detention, and the teacher wordlessly indicated a desk near the front. There were four other people in there. Lyla sighed and pulled out a notebook, doodling away. **(1)**

A full hour of unprofitable boredom later, Lyla was waiting outside for Shane. Seth's mom had pulled up and he had gone home. It was a full forty minutes before Shane's jeep rolled up. Lyla climbed into the back seat and slammed the door furiously. Mitchie was in the passenger seat, and she twisted round.

"Hey, Lyla. How was detention?"

"Finished almost three quarters of an hour ago."

"I'm sorry, Lyles, I got held up," Shane explained, pulling out of the parking lot and speeding off home.

"Held up by _what_?! You don't do anything all day!"

"I'm a very busy man," Shane retorted. Lyla snorted loudly, and Shane frowned. "Are you mocking the fact that I consider myself busy?"

"No, I'm mocking the fact that you consider yourself a _man_."

Mitchie had the grace to giggle. Shane however swerved to the sidewalk.

"Get out. You can walk home."

"Are you kidding me?!" Lyla asked, shocked.

"Nope. Out, now."

Lyla folded her arms and settled back in the seat. "Make me."

Two minutes later she was standing on the sidewalk watching as the jeep sped off. "BASTARD!" she screamed angrily after it, and then started walking. It was only a fifteen minute walk, but it still annoyed her to hell. When she got home she went straight to her room and refused to come out for the rest of the night.

~x~

The next morning she was firmly giving Shane the silent treatment. She ignored his offer of a lift and instead woke Jason up again. She reached school and headed straight for her first class, calculus. It was boring as hell, and so were the next three lessons. Then it was lunchtime. After eating something of unknown origins with Seth and some of his friends, Lyla went to sit outside on the grass with them. The girls from her biology class the day before came over and joined them. Lyla muffled a groan of annoyance. They were once again discussing Connect 3. Lyla tried to tune it out. But then something had her focussing.

"What I don't get is why some people actually _like _Jason!" One of them said. Lyla's eyebrows met. _Oh no she didn't._

"What exactly is wrong with Jason?" she enquired sweetly, trying to control her temper.

"Well, where to begin?! He's ugly, he's stupid, he's insensitive, all he does is play guitar, he has no fashion sense, and what is with his hair?" another said. Lyla shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she clenched her fist and opened her eyes, glaring right at the last girl to speak, spitting the words through clenched teeth.

"Never talk about my cousin like that," she said, and then she punched her straight in the face. She went down with a scream, and the other girls started shrieking. The first one to speak came at Lyla with her hands outstretched. Lyla leapt at her, tackled her, brought her down, and they started rolling around and clawing at each other. Then the girl Lyla punched joined in, and Lyla was forced to utilise all her limited skills to whack them both as hard as she could. She was going in to punch them again when someone caught her by the arms.

"Get off, you bastard!" she yelled, twisting to get free. Two other boys had grabbed the other two girls, and all three were being firmly restrained. Lyla struggled to get a glance at her captor, but all she could see was curly hair.

"Lyla, stop struggling! Jesus Christ," he said from behind her. Lyla sucked in a breath as she recognised Nate's voice.

"What the hell are you _doing_?" she hissed. "I thought you weren't going to have anything to do with me at school?"

He chuckled darkly. "Lyla, if you're going to try something that will get our family all over the tabloids when we don't want it to be, of course I'm going to stop you."

Lyla sighed and stopped wriggling. There were several teachers bearing down on them, and she used a last tactic.

"Nate, back me up?"

"Why should I? You started it."

"You want to know why I started it? Because they called Jason stupid and ugly and useless. You expect me to take that sitting down?"

"_What?!_ God, those no-good, dirty, fake, plastic - "

"Yes, yes, yes. Just back me up, 'kay? All the teachers love you."

"Of course. How could they say that about Jason?"

"They're retarded," Lyla said, sighing in relief as Nate released her arms. She rotated her shoulders a little and then grinned as Nate stepped forwards towards the teachers. There was no way she was gonna be in trouble this time.

~x~

Two hours later, she was in detention again. It seemed kinda pointless, really. The only good thing about it was that Nate was there too, for swearing at the teachers. And he wasn't blaming her for anything, so Lyla's day was actually pretty good, all in all.

Then she got home, and Jason forgot to make dinner so her family decided to order Indian, which Lyla hated, so she had to go hungry. She gave Shane and Jason the silent treatment for five whole days, and had to walk to school as a result. She was, however, feeling abnormally grateful to Nate for stepping in and backing her up, so she talked to him. Also she talked to him because he had a really cute friend that Lyla wanted to see more of. But she wasn't about to let Nate know that.

During the five days in which she refused to talk the Shane she didn't get in trouble at all. And with only six days left before she left on the Connect 3 Fall Tour, she decided to do something big on the Monday. She let Seth and all his group of jock-type friends in on the plan, and then they all cut fifth period to put it into action so it would be ready for lunchtime.

Phase 1 of the plan was to drag all the long, varnished lunch tables out of the lunch hall. They were long and straight and also all exactly the same height, which was important. Once the ten of them had managed to empty all thirty lunch tables out onto the lawn outside the front of the school, they put phase 2 into action. Lyla stood on one of the tables and directed matters. They had to do everything rather quietly in case a teacher came and found them, but she was good at quiet, so it worked rather well.

They lined up all the tables end to end, doubled up, all the way down the hill the school was built on, to create a wide slide all the way down. Then they borrowed – with every intention of returning! – a couple of giant tarpaulins from the woodwork department. The boys laid them out to cover the tables and tied them down. And then used some borrowed washing-up liquid bottles to squirt slidyness all down the slide.

Then Lyla nodded to Seth, who turned on the tap of the gardener's hose, and the water spurted out of the end and flowed down the slide, the washing-up liquid mixing with it to create a huge water slide. They all cheered, and Lyla and Seth pulled off their socks, shoes, jumpers, and then took a running dive onto the slide. They slithered down it spectacularly fast, landed in the swimming pool at the bottom of the hill, and were soon followed by the others that had helped. Just as Lyla and Seth made it back up the hill the rest of the school burst out with cries of delight and started pulling off layers of clothing.

A ragged, loud, chaotic line formed, and all teachers that tried to restore order were firmly ignored. It was possibly the best prank at school anyone had ever pulled, and by four o' clock, over three hours later, the party showed no sign of abating, despite the numerous attempts by teachers and parents.

Lyla and Seth stood to one side with huge grins, their hair soapy and wet, and their clothes clinging to their wet bodies. Lyla let out a shout of laughter as one of the girls she had fought with went flying off the edge of the tables and hit the ground. She wasn't hurt, but it looked hilarious. All the girls had make-up everywhere, and the grass was a soapy mess.

"This was the best idea ever," Lyla said, and high-fived Seth. They beamed as several people came up to congratulate them, but then a harsh voice reached their ears.

"Mr Huntington, I do believe I've found the culprits!"

~x~

**(1) sorry, author notes annoy me too! But I just thought I'd say that I have absolutely no idea what American schools make pupils do for detention. At my school we get given work to do by the teacher who put us in detention, but that's an English private school, so it may well be different. Do leave me a review if I'm wrong!**

**Hope you liked the chapter!  
**


	7. HeroHeroine

Lyla and Seth glanced at each other, and then Lyla shrugged. She had been expecting a detention anyway, and she was only at the school for another four days.

"No worries, Seth," she whispered as the teacher started to drag them off to the headmaster, "I'll take the blame. I'm outta here soon anyway, and Shane and Nate can't get mad because I'm certain I saw them just a second ago _on _the slide, so they're officially a part of this."

Seth frowned. "Lyla, I can't let you take all the blame for this."

She smirked. "It was my idea. And anyway, like I said, I've only got four days to go. It's not like they'll kick me out, is it?"

He wavered, and Lyla sensed a victory.

"Okay, fine. But I'm coming along anyway in case they get mad."

Lyla rolled her eyes as the teacher presented them to Mr Huntington, the headmaster. He sighed when he saw Lyla.

"Miss Gray, why did I have the feeling you would have something to do with this?"

She grinned. "I don't know. Maybe because something this brilliant could only be orchestrated by me?"

The headmaster smiled before realising what he'd done and formed a suitably neutral face as he continued. "I'm going to have to place you both in deten-"

"No, only me. Seth didn't have anything to do with it," Lyla butted in, smiling sweetly while shifting to stand hard on Seth's bare foot. He stifled a noise of pain, and the sweet smile turned slightly evil, but switched back quickly.

"Alright. Detention tomorrow and Wednesday, and I want you to write me a two hundred word essay on why it's wrong to use school furniture to create a water slide by tomorrow. I'm also going to send a letter home about your behaviour, because I think your … er … liking for mischief may not help you in later life."

Lyla had zoned out after the essay part, but when he stopped speaking she focussed again and nodded innocently, with the suitable amount of humility, and then towed Seth off out of the danger zone. As soon as they were out of earshot, she swore loudly and cheerfully and then charged at the water slide, knocking people out of the way and taking a huge leap onto it, spinning round as she slid down. She surfaced in the pool at the bottom, pushed her hair out of her eyes and was then hauled bodily out of the pool by her brother and cousin. They grabbed an arm each and pulled her out. She complained loudly as her purple logo t-shirt ripped against the side of the pool.

"You are such _retards_! Look what you did!"

Shane tried to be mad but he had had far too much fun on Lyla's water slide, wearing a fake moustache and a cap pulled low over his face to avoid recognition.

"Never mind that, let's go home before we get mobbed. I think you've won a lot of admirers."

"Where are my shoes?" she asked. It was a pressing concern – those shoes were brand new and rather expensive. In answer Nate held them up in one hand, and then he and Shane propelled her towards the car. Both her and Nate's bags were on the back seat, so she climbed in next to them.

Shane sighed momentarily before getting in the car.

"What?" Nate asked as he clipped his seatbelt on.

"I just had this car cleaned, and now we're getting the seats all wet. We'll ruin the material."

Lyla and Nate rolled their eyes at the exact same time and Shane laughed. He chucked his hat into the back, but it hit Lyla in the face and she chucked it right back, along with an insult. Shane sighed again and shoved it down the side of the seat, pulling out of the school parking lot.

"We've got another party tonight, Lyla, and if I see you up after ten you're in big trouble."

She yawned in response and leaned her head against the window until they reached home, almost two hours after school was supposed to finish. Lyla bounded out of the car, pausing to grab her shoes and bag, and hurried inside for a shower. He house had been set up for a party just like before, and Lyla rolled her eyes at the extravagance before running up the stairs and locking her bedroom door behind her for her shower.

~x~

When she finally emerged from her bedroom an hour later with her hair and make-up done and a dressing gown on, she wandered downstairs and found Shane at the kitchen table, staring absently into space. She opened her mouth to speak when someone grabbed her and clamped a hand over her mouth. She was about to bite it when she heard Nate's amused voice whisper in her ear.

"Shh! He's writing a song, and he hates to be disturbed," he explained, yanking her out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Mmph! Lemme go!" Lyla said, her voice muffled by Nate's hand, twisting and wriggling in his grip. Then she managed to bite him, and he let her go.

"You bitch!" he complained, examining his hand carefully.

"Don't come that far into my personal space then, bastard!"

"Don't call me bastard, shortie."

"Don't call me shortie, Loofah."

"Ugh, I hate it when people call me that."

"Duh, that's why I called you it."

"You are so annoying, and mean as well!"

"I'm not mean, I'm just carefully insulting. There's a difference, ignoramus."

"You are so dead!"

"SHANE!" they both yelled at the exact same time, glaring daggers at each other. Shane stormed out of the kitchen, clutching his notepad in his hand, with a face like thunder.

"Can't you children be quiet for _ten _minutes while I want peace?!"

"But she …"

"But Nate's …"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENED, NOR DO I CARE WHO STARTED IT!" Shane roared, apoplectic with rage. Lyla quieted; she had never seen him quite so angry. Nate also looked slightly cowed.

"I know exactly what I'm going to do with you," Shane informed then suddenly, and then grabbed each of their arms and towed them across the hallway and shoved them into the music room.

"Don't kill each other," he warned, and then went out and locked the door behind him. Lyla swore.

"It's because this room is soundproofed," Nate explained, going and sitting on the sofa, picking up his guitar on the way. As he strummed absently, Lyla tried all the windows and established that they were firmly locked, and then searched for a different escape route. Unfortunately there was nothing. Not even a vent to crawl through.

As she started wrestling with the door Nate reached for a sheet of music and started hurriedly scribbling notes down. Lyla desisted from throwing her weight against the door to watch him. He was pretty hilarious. He had his tongue stuck one side of his mouth, his brow creased and was muttering to himself.

Lyla sat down on the floor with her back against the door to wait. He strummed a few more chords, murmured something else, and then with a flourish wrote down the last note and grinned.

"Let's hear it then," Lyla said, going over and sitting down next to him. He jumped as though he had forgotten she was in the room – which he probably had – and then smiled.

"It hasn't got words yet."

"That doesn't matter. Just play it already!"

"Alright, alright, drama queen."

He struck the first chord on the guitar, and then settled into the song. Lyla shut her eyes and leant back against the cushions, her face puckered with concentration as Nate played.

When he finished the song, her eyes flashed open and she gave him a spontaneous round of applause.

"I loved it!" she enthused, her eyes wide with delight. "Play it again? Please?"

He grinned at her joy, glad that she had approved it. He was beginning to suspect that it would be useful to have an objective teenage girl view on the newest Connect 3 songs, and Lyla was nothing if not willing to thoroughly criticise a song she didn't like.

"I'll play it again, but I want you to help me with the lyrics," he bargained, and was surprised when she accepted. "You can write music?"

"No, Shane inherited almost all the musical ability available in the family. But I got most of the creativity, so it's a pretty equal divide. Writing is one of my guilty pleasures."

"Writing what?"

"Anything. Poetry, prose, whole stories … I expect that writing to me is like playing music is to you: you can get totally lost in it. Am I right?"

Nate nodded, and then Lyla suddenly jumped up from her seat on the couch.

"I know! I have the perfect lyrics! I wrote a poem a few months ago, back in Montana, and I've got it upstairs. I'll go fetch it!"

She shot towards the door, and Nate only had time to get out "Lyla, the door's st-" before she smashed into it and fell backwards.

"Shit!" Nate exclaimed, and abandoned his guitar to rush over to Lyla. She sat up and rubbed her forehead with a wince of pain as he reached her.

"Are you alright?" he garbled out. She blinked a couple of times, and then grinned.

"Sure, I do that all the time. But I think that now is the time for a concerted effort against the door, otherwise that song'll fester."

Nate nodded, and then together the two of them started shoving their bodies against the door.

"Hold on," Nate said, and backed up and lowered his shoulder. Lyla guessed his intent and joined him. "On three," he began, and she chuckled and waited.

"One, two, _three_!"

They both shot at the door and crashed hard into it, putting their joint weight against it. It groaned and then fell outwards, coming off its hinges. Both Lyla and Nate skidded to a halt, rubbing various painful parts of their bodies, staring with considerable apprehension down at the door that was now lying on the floor.

"What was that?" They heard Jason yell down the stairs, and then Shane's approaching footsteps.

"Aw, crap," Lyla said, and then she and Nate fled. They shot upstairs, and into Lyla's room. Nate locked the door behind them, and then went and sat on the bed, looking slightly uncomfortable at being in his cousin's bedroom by himself. Lyla was oblivious to this, busy rooting through all her drawers. Nate caught sight of sheets and sheets of paper.

"You write an awful lot," he said, making it into a slight question.

"Yep. This is only my poems or short prose though. I keep everything else on my laptop," she explained as she dug through yet more piles of paper, with a neat blue or black scrawl across all of them. Nate was getting bored before she eventually gave a shout of triumph.

Just as she was rushing back over to the bed to show him, Shane started pounding on the door.

"Open up, you two! You are in _so much _trouble it's not even true!"

Lyla stuck her tongue out at the closed door and turned to Nate. "Here it is," she said, handing him the scrappy piece of lined paper. He read it quickly, muttering things here and there to try them out.

"I like it," he eventually said, and Lyla let out a small sigh of relief. Although she liked to think she didn't care what her family thought of her writing, she really did. Her writing felt very personal, as she poured all of her emotions out into words on the page. To Lyla, there was very little as satisfying as sitting down and watching words appear on a blank page. The only thing that really came close to rivalling it was annoying her family as much as she could. Both activities gave her a happy glow of contentment.

"Okay, I'm going to try it, but don't be mad if I change a couple of things to fit, okay?" he said, and then swore loudly. "I don't have my guitar," he ground out, furious with himself. Nate denied access to a musical instrument when he needed it was very similar to Lyla being denied chocolate when she could see it right in front of it.

"Vent," she replied simply, and indicated the vent above her head. Nate grinned wickedly and shimmied up her bed-post, pushing the grate open and disappearing. Lyla pulled out her new dress for the party, a grey sphinx-style one, and the little purple and grey heels from the bottom of her wardrobe. She was slipping the chunky bangles onto her wrist when Nate reappeared with his guitar, dropping himself and landing neatly on the bed. Then he hurried to shut the grate, and settled down on the bed.

"Okay, let's see how this works. Join in if you feel like it," he said, and then launched into the song.

"_It's too late baby, there's no turning around  
I've got my hands in my pocket and my head in a cloud  
This is how I do  
When I think about you  
I never thought that you could break me apart  
I keep a sinister smile and a hold of my heart  
You want to get inside  
Then you can get in line  
But not this time_."

Cause you caught me off guard  
Now I'm running and screaming

I feel like a hero and you are my heroine

I won't try to philosophize  
I'll just take a deep breath and I'll look in your eyes  
This is how I feel  
And it's so surreal  
I got a closet filled up to the brim  
With the ghosts of my past and the skeletons  
And I don't know why  
You'd even try  
But I won't lie

You caught me off guard  
Now I'm running and screaming

I feel like a hero and you are my heroine  
Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?

And I feel a weakness coming on  
Never felt so good to be so wrong  
Had my heart on lockdown  
And then you turned me around  
I'm feeling like a new born child  
Every time I get a chance to see you smile  
It's not complicated  
I was so jaded

And you caught me off guard  
Now I'm running and screaming

I feel like a hero and you are my heroine  
Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?

(I feel like a hero and you are my heroine)  
And I feel a weakness coming on  
Never felt so good to be so wrong  
Had my heart on lockdown  
And then you turned me around  
(Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?)  
I'm feeling like a new born child  
Every time I get a chance to see you smile  
It's not complicated  
I was so jaded

(I feel like a hero and you are my heroine)  
And I feel a weakness coming on  
Never felt so good to be so wrong  
Had my heart on lockdown  
And then you turned me around  
(Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?)  
I'm feeling like a new born child  
Every time I get a chance to see you smile  
It's not complicated  
I was so jaded

Lyla didn't bother joining in, preferring instead to listen to Nate sing. She sighed with happiness when he finished, and reached over to give him a hug.

"That's really beautiful," she said, and he grinned and pulled back.

"The lyrics work so well. I can't wait to show Shane and Jason!"

"You'll have to wait, the party's started already," Lyla pointed out, and Nate for the first time noticed the heavy beats reverberating around the house.

"Shit, I have to change," he exclaimed, and dashed from the room. Lyla put her guitar necklace on and touched up her lipgloss before heading down and out to the party. It was almost 8:30, and once again the hallway was a seething mass of people. Lyla descended the stairs carefully and headed straight for the long table of food and drink set up against the side of the hallway.

She helped herself to something from a can. She didn't smell it first, and when she took a huge gulp the alcohol in it burned against her throat and trailed a fiery line right down to her stomach. She gasped hugely, her mouth wide open in surprise. Then she started coughing, and someone banged her on the back.

"You alright, kid?" a random guy asked her with a concerned look. She had to really focus to make out his features.

"Yeah … m'alright. Didn't think it was alcoholic."

He grimaced. "Honey, I think you should go lie down. That was a shot of straight absinthe, and it's going to seriously mess with you. Where's your boyfriend?"

She shook her head, her eyes suddenly going all fuzzy. "Don't … don't have one. My brother … Shane … he's here somewhere."

"Right, well you sit down right here, and I'll go find him, 'kay?"

Lyla made sense of his words and nodded, sitting down up against the wall, feeling very strange. It was like someone had poured stupid-potion into her, and she didn't like it much. She sat there in an unthinking stupor for what must have been at least twenty minutes before the random guy led Shane over to her.

"Hey, kid, I found your brother. You still feeling like shit?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Everything's weird." Then she started giggling. "Is this being drunk? I don't like it much," she confided to them, chuckling away to herself and sliding an inch further down the wall.

Shane was furious with her, but from what Thomas had said she hadn't realised it was alcohol, so he was willing to wait to be mad at her the next day. He lifted her up into his arms, and her head lolled against his shoulder as he battled his way through the crowd. Her room was still thankfully empty, so he laid her down on the bed.

"Lyla, if I have to carry you away from any more parties you can consider yourself banned, you got that?"

In answer she stumbled off the bed, weaved her unsteady way to the bathroom, and Shane heard her throwing up. He sighed, and waited for her to reappear. She did after a few minutes, very pale, and went straight to the bed. She shut her eyes and seemed almost instantly asleep, so Shane rolled her over onto her side and then went out of her room. He spotted Jason sitting on the window sill by himself, and went over to him.

"What's wrong, mate?"

Jason grinned feebly. "I don't really like parties. They give me a headache."

"You want an excuse to get out?" Shane inquired, and Jason nodded eagerly. "Awesome, can you go watch Lyla? She knocked back about three shots of absinthe without realising."

Jason gasped. "Are you serious? That could kill her!"

"Which is why I need you to go watch her. I don't want her choking in her sleep, okay?"

"On it," Jason replied, already halfway down the landing. Shane watched as he went into Lyla's room, shutting the door behind him, and then went back down to rejoin the party.

~x~

Lyla woke the next morning feeling like her head was about to implode. It wasn't a nice feeling, and she groaned as she got out of bed. Jason was fast asleep and snoring on the other side of the bed, and Lyla put a hand to her head as the sound ripped through her head like a chainsaw.

_Ow, ow, ow!_

She put a hand against the wall to steady herself, and made her way carefully downstairs, each step jarring her whole body. She found Shane standing at the centre island in the kitchen, and noticed with a small spike of satisfaction that he looked pretty awful too.

"What happened last night?" she whispered, unable to talk any louder for fear of causing her head to send itself into self-destruct.

"You drank something like two shots of absinthe, and then passed out upstairs when I took you to bed."

"Whoa."

"I know. Grab an aspirin and a coffee, and sit down. We need to talk, but I can't do it at the moment."

Lyla smiled weakly. "Hangover?"

Shane frowned. "I've had hangovers before, but this is the worst ever. Even my hair hurts."

Lyla would have laughed it she hadn't felt like total shit, so she contended herself with a small giggle and then knocked back the aspirin and took a gulp of the coffee. She sat and waited for about twenty minutes before the throbbing began to recede somewhat, and she perked up, and glanced at the clock.

"Shit!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Shane asked, also looking slightly better.

"It's two thirty! School started about …" she counted hurriedly on her fingers "… six hours ago!"

Shane waved his hand as though he considered the matter of very little importance. Which he did. "I'm giving you the day off."

"Seriously?"

"What, you think I'm cruel enough to make you go to school with the hangover I know you have?"

Lyla grinned. "You're awesome."

"I try. However, we do need to have a chat about last night."

Lyla rolled her eyes and tried to leave the kitchen before he could go all responsible on her, but he grabbed her and dragged her back to the table, shoving her into a seat. She cursed him rather colourfully, but he ignored it.

"Lyla, it was very irresponsible of you to drink without checking what it was first. I'm responsible for you while Dad's away, and if you get hurt or mess up, it's my fault, okay? Now, I let you attend those parties because I knew I couldn't do much to keep you away, but you have to promise to be more careful about what happens in the future. I mean, you've attended two so far and look what happened! In the first one you almost got sexually assaulted and I had to drive you to hospital. And now you go and get yourself ridiculously drunk and ensure that Jason misses the whole party, and …"

Lyla tuned out really quickly, just nodding at random points, knowing that it was pretty pointless trying to stop him. After a few minutes of his ranting, she was staring into space, not hearing his voice at all, only seeing his lips move as he berated her. Her mind wandered as she waited for him to finish.

_I wonder what God looks like. I bet he's a woman, really. And I bet he really hates humans and just sees us as a form of entertainment. I expect he and his angels have bets on who messes up and in what way._

_Hmm, maybe I should pay attention to Shane. He looks pretty serious about this who- hey, there's a butterfly at the window! I should probably get up and let it out; but then Shane will realise I'm not listening. So I'll do that later._

_I better ride Peter today, he must be feeling neglected. What am I going to do with him while we go on tour? I don't think he'll fit on the bus … maybe I could sneak him into the luggage compartment … yeah._

_I wonder what it would be like if it started raining skittles? That would be so totally wicked! I mean-_

"Lyla? Are you even listening to me?"

Lyla jumped guiltily. "Why, Shane, of course I am!"

He frowned. "Alright then, what did I just say?"

"Alright then."

"No, before that."

"You said: are you even listening to me?"

"No, before _that_!"

"You said Lyla."

Shane fell silent for a few moments, and Lyla started to edge out of her seat, but he noticed and pushed her back into it. She crossed her arms, and he was about to speak again when she decided to get his opinion on the matter of it raining skittles.

"Hey, Shane, what do you think it would be like if it started raining skittles?

He looked slightly bemused by the sudden change of topic. "Huh?"

"I said: what do you think- "

"Yeah, I got it. I just wondered why you asked me that."

"I was curious," Lyla said with a shrug, seizing the opportunity to make a quick getaway as he considered the question.

She high-tailed it out of there as fast as a gopher on speed and made it back to her bedroom before he got his first foot on the stairs.

Lyla really pitied him. It must be pretty hard to be famous and have an IQ as low as his.

~x~

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song Hero/Heroine by Boys Like Girls.**

**I hope y'all like the update! Review with any ideas, desires to appear in the story ... anything really! I'd like to put a few of you in, if you want. Just review with your character description, if you can be bothered, or tell me you want to be in the story and I'll improvise :D**


	8. The Parent Trap

**Note! Please don't review saying you'd like Jason and/or Nate to become 'romantically involved' with Lyla. They're cousins, and it's just not gonna happen. They love each other, but in a totally family way.**

~x~

"Lyla Gray, where were you yesterday?"

Lyla sighed, and turned to face the secretary.

"I was sick. I thought my brother phoned in …"

"We received no phone call," the secretary replied, glaring at Lyla, who just shrugged.

"I'll tell him off for you, shall I?" she said, hurrying off to third period calculus. She succeeded in getting through the rest of the day without trouble, attended detention with only a few complaints, and then headed home. She couldn't be bothered to call Shane, so she decided to walk instead. She was strolling along quite happily with her bag swinging from one hand, humming along to a song only she could hear when a car drove past her, stopped, reversed, and then rolled down the front window.

"Hey, Layla," the blonde girl said with a huge, fake smile, and Lyla felt a sinking in her stomach as she recognised the friend of the girl she had attempted to beat up a few days previously.

"Lyla," she corrected automatically, also putting on her most obvious fake smile. _Go away, go away, _she pleaded silently, glancing up at the sky. _Please, God, I'll go to Church on Sunday if you just make her go away …_

Lyla waited hopefully, but no divine intervention occurred and she stuck two fingers up at the blue sky and then turned her attention to the girl leaning out of the window of the car.

"So, a couple of the girls and I were wondering if you wanted to come to the mall with us tomorrow after school?"

Lyla pretended to consider, and then made an upset face. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry … uh, Anna, wasn't it? Yeah, well, I'm afraid I can't come."

The blonde (who may or may not have been called Anna) pouted. "That's too bad. How come you can't?"

"I'm going to have a headache," Lyla explained with a smirk, and grinned in satisfaction as Anna's face turned furious, and then the window rolled up without another word. She started walking again as soon as the car was out of sight, singing Nate's new song rather loudly as she strolled along, kicking the occasional rock with the toe of her bright purple converse, and just generally enjoying the sunshine.

Considering the relaxed-ness of her mood, she was rather shocked to reach home and find her brother and two cousins dressed very poshly in neat trousers and shirts waiting impatiently on the veranda. She couldn't help an amused smile spreading over her face.

"Aw, guys, you didn't have to dress up just to welcome me home from school! Don't get me wrong, I'm really flattered, but- "

"Shut up," Shane said with a scowl, brushing his hair irritably out of his eyes. "Dad's bringing home a new girlfriend and we have to be on our best behaviour – as though we've been perfect children while he's been away, you understand?"

Lyla positively beamed. "I get it. So it's like Nate's not been screwing Caitlyn, and there were no parties, and I never got detention, and I didn't graffiti the house, and you never had to drive me to hospital. Hmm, this should be fun."

All three boys frowned furiously, and Lyla just stood, drinking in their stupidness as they stood there on a hot summer's day wearing long trousers and long shirts when they'd probably much rather be in the pool.

"You guys look so weird," she commented after several seconds of tense silence.

"There's a dress on your bed for you to get into. Go change. _Now_!"

Lyla opened her mouth to reply, but the murderous look in Shane's eyes ignited some sort of weird self-preservation instinct in her and she went inside and up to her bedroom. There was a purple dress laid out on her bed, with a pair of the most ridiculous shoes Lyla had ever seen. She reluctantly got into the dress, which was both shapeless and completely the wrong length for her – it hung just below her knees, and looked completely stupid - but she drew the line at the shoes.

They were all ribbon and tiny heels and bows. Lyla felt sick just_ looking_ at them, so there was no way in hell she was _wearing _them. She kicked them off to one side and instead pulled her converse back on. She dumped her bag on her desk and then bounced back downstairs, appearing out of the door to find Jason sitting on the swinging seat to one side of the door, Shane perched on the railings around the veranda, and Nate spread-eagled on the floor. She assessed the situation for a moment – they all looked both very tense and very bored – and then went and sat on Nate.

"Hey!" he protested loudly as she sat on his stomach, and Shane turned round and laughed as Nate tried unsuccessfully to budge Lyla off. He rolled over to dislodge her, but she immediately fought back like a tiger and it descended into an all-out wrestling match on the floor of the veranda, with Jason egging them both on and Shane laughing his head off as Nate failed to pin down a _girl _two years younger than him.

Lyla and Nate were both giggling like crazy as they fought, pushing and shoving and each trying to pin the other down. All four were so involved that they didn't hear a car draw up, or its doors open, or two people step out onto the gravel.

Lyla had just sunk her teeth into Nate's arm as he finally managed to pin her down when a shadow fell over them. Nate cut himself right off in the middle of a curse, and Lyla blinked innocently up at her father, her teeth still fastened onto Nate's arm.

"Mmph Dammph…" she attempted, trying to speak past her mouthful. With a snort of desperately controlled laughter, Nate rolled off her and stood up, detaching her teeth from his arm and examining with considerable surprise the cuts she had made. Lyla heard him mutter something about "freakishly sharp vampire teeth," and swallowed back the giggle that wanted to escape.

"Lyla, what do you think you are doing?!" Her father hissed as an elegant, very fake-ginger woman ascended the steps behind him. Lyla glanced down at the floor and then back up again, donning a puzzled expression.

"Well, Dad, I thought I was standing, but from the tone of your voice I can tell that that's not the case."

"No, I meant what do you think you're doing, wearing those shoes, and fighting with your cousin like a … like a street-child?" he replied, trying to stare her down. Lyla was about to make a very witty comeback, but she caught Shane's eye and he just mouthed "please" at her, and so she choked back her response, and supplemented "I'm sorry, Dad," instead, looking down at the floor, but mentally flicking him off.

He moved on to talk to Nate and Shane, and the lady came to stand in front of Lyla, who raised her head.

"Well, hello, dear. You must be Lyla – your dad's told me all about you!"

She seemed genuinely pleased to be meeting Lyla, but Lyla wasn't quite so happy about meeting her.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," the lady said with a condescending smile, holding out her hand for Lyla to shake. Lyla was suddenly and overwhelmingly reminded of Meredith Blake, the girlfriend of the dad from The Parent Trap; and then the woman just clinched it.

"My name's Meredith."

Lyla clamped a hand over her mouth to try to prevent the laughter. Beside her, Nate was shaking with silent paroxysms, his eyes closed as he fought to maintain even a small semblance of control.

"Lyla," her dad said warningly, but she couldn't take it and without another word whirled and dashed inside, followed closely by Nate and Shane. They leant against each other and sank to the floor, laughing so hard they had tears running down their cheeks. They could vaguely hear Jason outside sounding very confused, and then the front door crashed open and their dad stalked inside, advancing menacingly on them.

But, unfortunately for Lyla, Shane and Nate, they had that weird complex thing coursing through them where you just can't stop laughing. So as Lyla and Shane's dad gave them the worst telling off they had possibly ever received, they just snorted and giggled and tried everything to stop laughing. Eventually it was too much for their Dad.

"What is so _funny_?!" he demanded, glaring down at them.

"Mere…dith…" Shane gasped out, holding his sides.

"Parent …Trap…" Nate attempted, doing little better than Shane.

"She's like … like the .. the evil girlfriend in … that … film!" Lyla eventually managed to garble out, struggling to breathe properly. They were all aware in one tiny part of their brains that there would be hell to pay, but they just couldn't psych themselves up to care. Suddenly their dad seemed to come to a decision.

"Right, as you're all acting so childish, you are hereby banned from our party tonight."

"No offence Dad," Shane began.

"But why would we want to come to an old – er, I mean … _adult _party anyway?" Lyla finished, sharing a quick, amused glance with Shane.

"Well, I like to think that you'd want to attend your own father's engagement party."

"_YOUR WHAT_?!" Lyla and Shane screeched out at the exact same moment, laughter forgotten. They were both on their feet in an instant, and began to advance menacingly on their father. Nate, sensing danger, hurried outside.

"You got _engaged _to that cow you just _met_? Without _telling _us?" Shane hissed furiously, towering over his father and wearing an expression of such abject fury his dad found himself recoiling slightly. He turned to Lyla in a possible attempt at pulling her onto his side, but he was met with a look that was, if possible, even more irate than Shane's.

"Actually, I've known Meredith for rather a while now…"

"Save it, Dad," Shane said, sprinting off after Lyla who had starting running towards the door. Shane wasn't sure what she was planning but he was sure that it wouldn't be pretty. He was taller and much more athletic than she was, so he caught her before she even reached the back door. Through the glass he could see Jason making uncomfortable conversation with Meredith, and, judging by the expletives issuing from Lyla's lips, the woman would soon be buried under several feet of soil.

"Leave it, Lyla, she's not worth it," he said, enclosing her in an iron-strong grip and holding her tight as she struggled to get free.

"Lemme go, you bastard! You're just as much on her side! Oh, fuck her! And fuck Dad! How could he?! Why would the fucker _do _this to us? I said _let go_!"

"No can do, Lyles," Shane informed her, and then started dragging her away from the door and back through the hallway and up the stairs, his arms tight around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides. He got her halfway across the landing before she suddenly went limp. Shane, terrified that he'd suffocated her, immediately let go. She sunk to the floor with a moan of despair. Shane crouched down next to her.

"Why does it bother you so much, Smiler?"

"For the same reason it bothers _you_. Because Dad belongs with Mom, and you know it as well as me."

Shane rested a hand on her tousled hair. "They don't work together, Lyles. We all know that. That's why you lived with Mom in Montana, and I came here to live with Nate and Jason and Dad."

Shane tilted her face to see it properly, and was horrified to discover tears running down her cheeks. Shane didn't do tears well, so he enveloped her in an awkward hug and brushed her head gently.

"Shh, now, baby girl, it's gonna all be okay …"

"How, Shane?" she asked, glancing up at him through her messy fringe. "How is it _ever _gonna be okay?"

"We'll _make _it okay, you and me together, brother and sister."

"How?"

"I don't know," he admitted honestly, and then started as she leapt to her feet.

"I have to get out of here," she gasped out, suddenly panicked.

"Whoa, slow down! Why?"

"It's too much like last time," she explained, and then darted down the stairs. Shane was left in shock for a couple of minutes, but then came back down to earth and shot after her. He saw her small figure heading straight out over the lawn, with Nate wandering around the side of the garden about twenty metres away.

"CATCH HER!" Shane bellowed, suddenly terrified that if she made it away they'd never see her again. Nate jumped, and then twisted to see Lyla sprinting across Peter's field towards the little bay horse who was grazing contentedly in the corner. Nate ran after her, with Shane also sprinting as fast as he could towards her.

"LYLA, PLEASE!" Shane yelled, and Nate echoed the cry as she reached Peter. The horse glanced up in surprise as she cannoned into his side, her fingers scrabbling at the side of his neck. She paused for one terrible, undecided moment, but then she noticed her father and the woman starting towards her, so she took a flying leap up to Peter's back, tearing the dress in the process, and set him at the fence. He cleared it with one glorious, skyward bound, and then touched down and galloped even faster.

Some of Lyla's desperation must have got through to him, because the gallant little horse put his heart and soul into bearing his mistress away from whatever misfortune had befallen her. He felt her fingers twisting themselves into his snapping mane, her slim legs curled around his belly, her body pressed low against his neck, urging him forwards. But Peter was so sensitive to her that he felt more than that. He felt the glassy tears that dripped onto his skin; picked up the fear, anger and disappointment coursing through her.

Peter had never been particularly bothered by what was asked of him by the brave, fiery little girl he had been a friend to for five years, ever since a high-spirited and intelligent four-year-old horse was delivered to a lonely, hurting nine-year-old girl. They understood each other, that pair, and he willingly did what she wanted, no matter how odd.

But this was different. Now, for the first time, she wasn't running with him just for the sake of running. Now she was fleeing something, and Peter, in the recesses of his mind, understood that and gave everything he had into taking her away from that. He felt the gentle twitch of her shaking fingers, and the soft pressure against his side that showed him she wanted to travel into the setting sun. He swung into it, his body tired but still with plenty of travelling left in it. She was heading for the woods, and its cool shadiness looked inviting.

Her breath started to hitch, and soon she was sobbing as Peter ran her away from her troubles, but he wasn't asked to stop and so he didn't.

He just kept running.

Because she had asked him to, and because he loved her.

They reached the forest soon enough, and the sound of a car engine in the distance prompted Lyla to aim Peter into the darkest part of it. He slowed, and she adjusted to the change in pace, running a light hand up and down his neck to show her appreciation. He snorted as he knocked his hoof on an exposed roof, and Lyla cried out as a branch whipped across her face, cutting it. She dismounted quickly, sliding down Peter's heaving side and landing softly on the mossy ground.

"C'mon," she said, speaking for the first time, and grabbed Peter's forelock; and he followed utterly trustingly as she led him into the shadows. She was shaking more now, and it was chilly under the trees, so Peter pressed up closer against her, nudging her back softly every now and again to reassure her and remind her that she wasn't alone.

Lyla was so confused. The adrenaline that had fuelled her mad escape was fading now, and the sound of her passage with Peter through the huge trees echoed. He kept pressing his nose into her back gently occasionally, and she was glad of the reminder that she wasn't alone in there. She walked for what felt like hours, until the forest all around her was filled with the sounds of nocturnal creatures waking up. She was exhausted, but forced herself to keep walking, and eventually stumbled into a clearing that had soft grass all over the floor, and sweet-smelling flowers that soaked the night air with beautiful scents.

With a sigh Lyla dropped down to the ground, pulling off her converse and then stretching out, shivering slightly in the colder night air. Peter lay down carefully next to her, and she nestled up against his belly, using his warmth to heat her body. Her eyes fluttered closed, and despite the blackness and uncertainty of her surroundings, she fell asleep.

~x~

When she awoke the next moment, she took a moment to readjust herself to her surroundings. Peter was grazing quietly to one side, his eyes watchful and his ears pricked as he ate. Lyla heaved herself to her feet and went over to the stream that bubbled up into a small pool and then flowed off into the trees. After she had gulped down the cool, clear water, she was beginning to feel very stupid.

In books, the heroine always ran off into the woods and lived off the land. Unfortunately for Lyla, she wasn't that sort of person. Although she liked the outdoors, she was only happy to spend so much time in it because she knew she had a soft bed, a caring mother and … well, just civilisation in general to return to once she was finished with the outside world. She knew even as she sat down to consider her situation that she wouldn't go back home. She was a very proud person, and to return now would completely defeat the purpose of running away in the first place.

However, she couldn't just stay in the woods.

She sat deadly still as the Sun rose over the tree-tops and filled the flowery meadow with gold, a plan slowly formulating itself in her mind. She _would _go back to the house, but only to … _borrow _a credit card so she could get to Paris, and to her mom. She stood up carefully, stiff from a night on the hard floor, pulled on her converse and went over to Peter. He snorted softly as she caressed his neck delicately, turning his head to look at her. Tears started falling down her cheeks again.

"I've got to leave you, boy," she whispered, hating the fact but knowing it was necessary. He didn't understand her, and the trusting nudge he gave her with his muzzle broke her heart a little bit further. With a sob, she stepped up onto a log and from there to his back.

"Let's go home, Peter," Lyla said, and hung on as Peter set off at a steady canter. She ducked her head down as they passed into the trees, trying to concentrate on something other than the crazy thing she was about to attempt. She settled on the gnawing hunger in her belly, letting that one feeling fill her up to the brim, blocking out all hurt and despair.

They saw the flashing lights before they reached home, and Lyla pulled Peter to a stop just within the fringe of trees that bordered the meadow round the back of the house. All she could see were policemen and police cars seemingly _everywhere_, and that would make her plan a little more difficult. She dismounted, landing heavily on the muddy ground, and then hugged Peter fiercely around the neck.

"I'm so sorry, boy. I promise I'll get Shane to look after you."

He blew out through his nose, ruffling her hair, and with the tears carefully held in Lyla smacked him on the rump. He burst out from under the trees and galloped right down the driveway, bucking and neighing like a crazy person. As Lyla had hoped, all the policemen headed straight for him, giving her the opportunity to dart across the garden and up the tree next to Shane's window. She checked inside carefully before pushing the window open and jumping inside.

She landed on the messy floor and padded softly over to Shane's desk. She pulled out a sheet of music paper and a pen, and scrawled a hasty note across it.

_I'm sorry, Shane, but I have to go. I'm going to Mom in Paris. I'm leaving Peter with you – promise me you'll take care of him, please. _

_I can't cope with Dad getting engaged. If you really want to know why ask him, or ask Mom. She knows too._

_I love you and Nate and Jason, _

_Lyla_

She hastily blue-tacked it to his large mirror, and then reached into his coat pocket and grabbed his wallet. She pulled out a bunch of twenties and his card and PIN, and then went up into the vent. She pulled the grate shut behind her and scramble along to her room. It was miraculously empty when she came to it, so she swung down and headed straight to her wardrobe. She dug her passport out and slipped out of the raggedy dress she was wearing and into some jeans and a shirt, then pulled a beanie hat out and shoved it on her head, grabbing up her large sunglasses from her desk along with her wallet, tucking Shane's money and card into it, put it all plus her cellphone and iPod into a handbag and then went back up into the vent.

She crawled along carefully, trying not to make too much noise, and eventually – after falling a couple of times – reached the deserted ballroom. She scrambled down to the floor and headed straight out the doors, cutting across the back garden to the road which would lead her straight into town, where she could grab a taxi. She pushed her sunglasses onto her face as she semi-jogged, checking behind her every now and again.

It took her ten minutes at her fastest walking pace to reach the town, and then she hailed a passing cab.

"Where to, love?" the driver asked her as she clambered in, red-faced and breathing heavily.

"The airport, please," she replied, settling back into the seat to await the tense journey that was about to follow.

~x~

**A/N whoa … deep chapter. Don't worry, we'll see the reason for Lyla's need to leave, and hopefully (if it all works out) there'll be some serious Dad/Meredith bashing in the next couple of chapters. I don't like either of them.**

**Read and review!**

**Please, for the love of God, if you favourite the story, leave a review telling me **_**why **_**you favourited it. It's incredibly frustrating as a writer to get people favouriting you but not saying **_**why**_**! Reviews are what help an author become a better person, so please leave one!**

**And I have a special little surprise for you all … the next chapter is already almost finished, so for once you guy are gonna have two chapters in two days! (If I can get to the internet tomorrow :D)**

**Kacee, you shall be in the story! I was very excited that someone actually wanted to be in it! Anyone else?**


	9. Watching

Two hours later Lyla was ensconced in First Class on a Virgin Atlantic flight to the Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris. Shane's credit card had easily bought her the ticket for the flight, plus a couple of new books. She had switched her phone off, as it seemed to be almost constantly ringing. She could barely stop herself bouncing up and down as the aeroplane taxied out onto the runway, desperate to be up in the air and safe.

She breathed a huge sigh of relief when the popping in her ears confirmed that they were airborne, and a beaming air hostess bore down on her.

"Hello, little lady, are you alright there?"

"Fine thanks," Lyla replied rather ungratefully, not in the mood for the _sunshine-and-rainbows _vibe this hostess was exuding.

"Well, if you need anything, you let me know, okay? I'm Alice. Do you have a parent or guardian travelling with you?"

"Nope. Just me."

"Oh, right then. Well, just call me if you want something, mkay?"

"Thanks," Lyla said, putting in her iPod earphones and flicking around to find a good song. Eventually the beat rolled through her head and body, blocking the feelings of guilt and grief. She switched her phone on and found it bombarded with texts, missed calls and worried voicemails. Most were from Shane and her mom, both of them demanding to know where she was. She texted Shane first.

_Check your mirror._

Then she settled down to the harder business of wording the text to her mom exactly right.

_Mom, don't freak. I'm not dead or missing – in fact I'm on a flight to Paris right now. Dad got a new girlfriend and I can't deal with that. Please don't be mad, but I'm coming to live with you now. Can you come pick me up from the CDG airport in about ten hours? Thanks. I love you, Lyla xx_

By the time she had laboriously typed out all the correct grammar, as her mom would have wanted, she had another text from Shane.

_Wat the hell r u playin at? U cant just run off lyk that, u belong here now. We will come get u bak, count on it, Lyla._

She rubbed a hand over her face, tucking her legs up under her in the large first-class seat. A business man across the aisle gave her a smile when she glanced up, and she grinned tentatively back before replying to Shane.

_Im playing at surviving, Shane. Go ask dad, lyk I said on the note. And u will take care of peter, right?_

She had to wait several minutes before her phone buzzed again, and she flipped it open and read the text.

_Ye I'll look after him for u. but don't expect us to give u up without a fight. Me and Nate and Jase only just got u back, and we're not letting u go so soon._

Lyla sighed and shut the phone off again, leaning back in the seat and shutting her eyes.

~x~

_She opened her eyes onto a neat, colourful sitting room. Her mom was sitting on a sofa across the room, and a strange man next to her._

"_Good, Lyla, you're awake. There's someone I want you to meet."_

"_Who is it?" her voice was unsteady – she was young again, and there was something horrifically familiar about the stranger._

"_This is Jack. He's my new fiancée. Jack, this is Lyla, my daughter. She's eight."_

"_It's nice to meet you, Lyla," his voice was rough and dangerous sounding, and there was a glint in his eyes that didn't look at all friendly._

"_It's nice to meet you too."_

~x~

Lyla tossed a little in the wide airline seat, resettling herself in a more comfortable position, her body tense, as the dream played out in her head.

~x~

"_Lyla! Can you come here a second?"_

_Lyla looked up from her book. Jack was calling her from downstairs. With a sigh, she marked the page and then bounced down the stairs._

"_Yes, Jack?"_

"_You're in trouble, Lyla," he said. His breathing was rough and the maniacal glint was filling his eyes up with sadism. Lyla's eyes flew to the empty bottle of vodka on the side._

"_But I didn't do anything," she complained, moving backwards towards the door as he stumbled towards her. _

"_Yes, you did. And you're going to come with me so I can show you what happens to naughty girls."_

"_No, please, don't – I'll tell mommy on you!" she tried threatening him, but he just grabbed her up by the back of jumper and carried her out to his car, throwing her into the front seat. _

"_Please, Jack," she begged as he slammed the door shut and made his way round to the driver's side, where he climbed in and fired the ignition. "I'll be good from now on, I promise, just don't take me away from mommy."_

"_Shut up," he replied, screeching out onto the dark road far too fast. Lyla reached for her seatbelt with trembling hands, plugging in after several tries. Then Jack swerved to miss something in the road, and Lyla raised her hands to cover her eyes._

_She started sobbing desperately, her whole body shaking. And then the car stopped, and her hands were dragged from her eyes._

"_You'll watch this, kid, or you'll pay later," he warned, and then half-fell out of the car and made his way over to where a group of men were standing around someone on the floor. Jack pushed his way into the group, and Lyla heard shouting, and then another man detached himself from the crowd and got in the car next to Lyla._

"_You'll watch this, brat," he said, repeating Jack's instructions, and then grabbed her hands and held them in a tight grip._

"_Ow! You're hurting me," she protested, trying to pull them away, but he just increased the pressure. _

"_Watch, brat," he repeated, using his other hand to turn her head to face the group of men. She gasped in utter horror. They had a girl in their midst, and they had stripped her down. There were three men holding her still while the others used her, and Lyla found her eyes frozen open in shock. But then one pulled out a knife, and Lyla screamed as he shoved it roughly into the girl's side._

_The man in the car with her clamped a hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. A faint wail of a police siren was heard in the distance, and the group of men abandoned the dying girl and fled towards the car. Lyla found herself flung roughly from the seat, landing on the hard ground, something in her arm cracking with a sickening noise. _

_Lyla was sobbing again, with pain and hurt and horror. The police were nearer now, but the car with the men in it was gone. A faint, agonised moan sounded from where the girl was, and Lyla summoned up her courage and crawled over to her. _

"_Are … are you dead?" she asked softly once she reached her, putting a small hand against the girl's bruised and bloody cheek. The very faint hint of a smile drew the corners of the girl's lips up._

"_Not yet, little one. Are you?" her voice was very quiet._

"_I'm not. Why did they do that to you?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_Why didn't you stop them?"_

"_There were too many."_

"_Oh. The policemen are coming."_

"_I can hear their sirens."_

_Lyla noticed how pale the girl had gone, and then her eyes followed the girl's arm to where it was pressed against her side, blood seeping through her fingers._

"_They put that knife in you?" Lyla asked, drawing the girl's arm away from the wound, examining it with surprising detachment. Then, remembering a film, Lyla ripped the bottom of her t-shirt and tied a band around the girl's side. It didn't really do much, but Lyla felt better for having tried to help._

"_Thank you. What's your name?"_

"_I'm Lyla. Who're you?"_

"_I'm Mary. Thank you for helping, Lyla. And thank you for screaming."_

"_That was my pleasure."_

"_Can you do something for me, Lyla?" Mary's voice was very low now, and interspersed with sharp breaths. Lyla took her hand._

"_Yes."_

"_Can you tell the policemen to tell my parents and my boyfriend and brothers I love them all, and always will? No matter what happens."_

"_Yes, I can do that. But you can tell them yourself, you'll be fine."_

"_I don't … never mind. Thanks, Lyla. You're a lovely … lovely …"_

_Lyla gazed down in utter, abject alarm as Mary's eyes fluttered shut, and her painful breathing stopped. Lyla let go of the hand she had been holding as it went floppy, and then backed off, putting weight on her broken arm, the pain jarring some sense of reality into her._

_Then she screamed. And screamed, and screamed, and didn't stop. _

~x~

"Kid? You alright?"

A hand was on her shoulder, shaking her. Lyla's eye flew open, and she recoiled in her seat as she tried to orientate herself, her head whirling.

"You alright?" the question was repeated by the man leaning over her.

_No, of course not. I just watched a woman die … again._

But that didn't really seem like the right response, so Lyla just shook her head to knock some coherency into it.

"Yes, thank you. I just had a bad dream. I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"Not at all, little lady." The man was the one from across the aisle that had smiled at her earlier, and he sat back down, picking up a newspaper.

Lyla curled herself up into a small ball, her face pressed into her knees. She had always suffered from bad dreams. When she was young, before her parents split up, she used to run to Shane and get into bed with him so he could keep the nightmares away. Then she had moved to Montana, and she had relied on her mom to run to after bad dreams. But on an aeroplane thousands of feet above the Atlantic Ocean, she had no-one to run to, and the tears started falling thick and fast down her face.

She hadn't been troubled by that particular dream for some time – usually she was woken up by the one with the hands reaching for her, but that was nothing compared to this one. Lyla pressed shaking hands to her face as she recalled how the girl had died right there, right in front of her young, horrified eyes.

The worst feeling about this particular nightmare was the guilt. If she had screamed earlier, would Mary still be alive today? If Lyla had told her mom that she didn't trust Jack when they were first introduced, would she had never had to go through that?

But it was all ifs, and Lyla knew that she could never change anything – she would never be spared that terrifying memory as long as she lived. She forced the sobs down, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She glanced up from her foetal position, out of the window and into the expanse of sky. The Sun was rising over France as they flew, and the sky had turned from dark blue to purples, pinks, reds and golds.

Her phone beeped at her as she gazed at the colours, and she was drawn from her reverie as she flipped it open.

_Lyla, you've got some explaining to do. I'll be there to pick you up. Mom x_

She heaved a sigh of relief and texted back with a quick thank you, and then she texted Shane again, knowing that he would be going apeshit with worry.

_Hey, Shane, Im almost at the airport now. Don't freak out, im safe. Don't try come get me bak, I don't want anything to do with the evil gf. I love u guys 2, but u gotta let me go. xx_

She sent the text, and received a reply almost instantly.

_Nice try. I lost mom for good, lyla, and im not losing u 2, especially since I almost got u back. Ur my little sister, you belong with me. Even if ur annoying as hell. Just wait, we'll drag you back here kicking and screaming if we have 2. _

She sighed and closed the phone, plugging her headphones into the arm of the seat and picking a movie to watch as the aeroplane carried her through the silent skies.

~x~

"Lyla Arianna Gray you are in _so much _trouble it's not even true! How dare you run away from your father like that? He had half the LA police force out looking for you! And Shane is going ballistic with worry – he's called me every five minutes since yesterday to ask if you've arrived yet!"

Lyla just reached out and hugged her mom, needing the comfort and reassurance more than anything else. After a brief moment, her mom hugged her back.

"You scared me to death, baby girl. Please don't ever do that again. Hey, why are you crying?"

Lyla sniffled into her mom's shoulder. "I missed you, mommy."

"I missed you too, sweetie, but you really shouldn't have run away. You don't know how terrified we all were."

Lyla snorted. "Dad doesn't care. He's all butterflies-and-unicorns about his new fiancée, he doesn't give a shit about me."

"Language! Wait, did you say your dad's engaged?"

Lyla nodded silently, and a few more tears leaked out. Her mom pulled her into her side, drawing her out to a car.

"I'm so sorry, Lyla. He didn't tell me. I understand now."

Lyla climbed into the back of the car, and her mom waved to the driver.

"I had the dream about Mary and _him_ again on the plane."

Her mom's eyes filled with tears, and Lyla found herself pulled into another hug. "I'm so sorry, Lyla."

"It's fine, mom, it was years ago. Besides, I'm here now, in Paris, so you have to point everything out to me!" Lyla demanded, smiling and pressing her nose up against the window.

"Well, we're just driving down the Seine now, and we'll come past Notre-Dame and the Musée D'Orsay soon."

Lyla watched the city go past in utter delight, completely distracted by the excitement of being in a new place. Eventually the driver pulled up at a very modern-looking block of apartments.

"Didn't you bring a suitcase?" her mom asked as they both got out of the car, then fired off some instructions to the driver in French. He nodded, touched his cap and drove off. Lyla followed her mom into the lift, almost bouncing with anticipation as she pressed the 'Penthouse' button.

~x~

**Okay, I'm sorry, short chapter! And kinda sad and boring again, but it was needed. You can kinda see why Lyla needed to run.**

**The response to the last chapter overwhelmed me! Six reviews in a day? You guys all rock my cute little cotton socks, and I promise everyone who asked to be in the story will make an appearance very soon – I haven't forgotten you! Unfortunately a few things need to happen first, and for once I'm gonna sit down and write the next chapter with a vague plan in my head. Usually I just sit down and type with no idea what's happening.**

**To everyone who's reviewed saying you like Lyla because you never know what she's going to do next – neither do I! She's very much a random character, purely because I just write whatever pops into my head when I sit down in front of the computer!**

**I love you all, and I hope you're enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it :D**

**There are still places open if you want to be in here!**


	10. Paris!

Lyla still couldn't get over the grandeur of the penthouse apartment, and it had been almost six hours. She was sitting on a sofa in the front room that had a wall of glass opening out onto a balcony, and several thousand DVDs on shelves around a massive flat-screen TV.

She gazed out onto the city, the bright lights of the car headlights driving at crazy speeds around the streets mesmerising her.

"Lyla, Shane's on the phone for you," her mom said, attempting to hand her the phone. Lyla took it and pressed the 'end call' button, and then gave it back.

"You should listen to your brother, young lady," her mom told her, sitting down next to her. Lyla grinned.

"No, I shouldn't. He'll be acting like a worried old lady, and I can't be bothered to deal with that right now."

"Don't be rude about him."

"He's not here."

"I don't care, he's still my son and your brother, so be nice, okay?"

Lyla rolled her eyes and got up to choose a film to put into the DVD player.

"What are we watching?" her mom asked, leaning back on the cushions.

"Shrek," Lyla replied, beaming, and her mom groaned.

"Didn't we watch this enough when you were little?"

"Nope!"

"Ugh, fine," her mom said, caving, and Lyla pressed play.

~x~

Towards the end of the film Lyla had fallen completely asleep. Her mom smiled lovingly and picked her up, carrying her into the main bedroom, removing her shoes and then laying her down on the bed and getting into her pyjamas before climbing in next to her.

She tossed and turned a little during the night, but suffered few nightmares. She was still absolutely fast asleep when her mom woke up the next morning, being unaccustomed to the time difference, and so when she finally got up it was almost one o' clock in the afternoon.

She rolled out of bed and padded into the gleaming kitchen, finding a note stuck to the fridge with a magnet.

_Gone to work, back at five. Help yourself to food etc. The clothes on the table are for you. Agathe picked them out. Don't leave the apartment._

_Mom x_

Lyla binned the note and turned to see six huge boxes on the table. She dived at them and, with much tearing and excited noises, managed to get into them. It was like heaven – Lyla had never had so many clothes in her life.

She spent the rest of the afternoon trying all the different outfits on, stopping for a sandwich at about four, and had just changed into a black skirt, bright turquoise tights and shirt and black ballet pumps, when the doorbell rang. She bounded for the door, trying to look through the peephole but finding that she was too short, and instead opened the door.

"Bonjour, je cherche Madame Chalmers?"

Lyla hastily gathered together all her working knowledge of French, and delivered a reply that was devastatingly witty, brilliantly clear and phenomenally accurate.

"Elle est sortie."

"OK, je retournerai en deux heures. Il va bien. Vous êtes sa fille ?"

Once again, Lyla astounded herself with her command of the language.

"Oui!"

_And I took French for six years …_

The man grinned and waved, then walked off. Lyla shut the door and bounced back over to the pile of clothes, sorting them all out into piles and then leaving them on the table for lack of a better place to put them.

She decided that she very much liked Parisian life.

~x~

Two days later her jet-lag was much improved, and she and her mom were sitting at the table eating dinner when the doorbell rang. Her mom went to get it, and Lyla heard a man's familiar voice.

"Mom! It's so great to see you! Is Lyla here?"

Lyla bolted, straight into the bedroom and then, glancing wildly about, shot into the en-suite bathroom and locked the door. She could hear her mom and Shane having a little reunion in the hallway, and then they went into the kitchen.

"Lyla?" her mom called, and then spoke, obviously to Shane. "I don't understand: she was here just a minute ago."

"I expect she's hiding. I know she doesn't want to come back."

"She has to – she's an American through and through. She belongs with you, I don't have time for her here."

"I know, mom. Nate and Jason are coming too, they're just grabbing a bite to eat down the road. We're gonna take her home."

Lyla snorted. _Over my dead body!_

"Lyla?" Shane called, and Lyla heard his footsteps coming into the main bedroom. He headed right to the bathroom door. "Lyla, I know you're in there. Come out and we'll talk about this like the mature and sensible adults we are."

Lyla laughed.

"Seriously, come out. We need to talk."

"Lyla, if you don't come out I'll confiscate your iPod. I have it right here in my hand," her mom said, and Lyla swore as she remembered with a sinking heart that she'd left it on the end of the bed. She reluctantly unlocked the door and stepped out of the bathroom, only to be enveloped in a bone-crushing hug by Shane.

"Jesus, Lyles, don't _ever _do that again."

"Can't … breathe … personal … space …"

Shane ignored her, and it wasn't until she started to turn slightly purple that their mom intervened.

"Shane, honey, as much as I appreciate that you missed her, you need to let go in case you kill her."

Shane squidged her closer one more time, and then let her go. She staggered backwards and reached for the bed, leaning on it to support herself as she got her breath back.

"Oops," Shane muttered, and once Lyla had gathered the breath to speak she demanded what the hell he was playing at.

"I came to get you back! We go on tour in under a week, and we need you with us."

"I'm not going."

Shane frowned. "I wasn't joking when I texted saying Nate and Jason and I would drag you home kicking and screaming if we had to. I'm perfectly willing to tie you up and put you in a suitcase."

Lyla's eyes blazed, and she took one menacing step forward. He also took a step, and soon they were standing less than a metre apart, glaring at each other.

"I wouldn't go back to Dad if you threatened me with death!"

"_Yes_!" Shane shouted. "That's it! Don't you see? You don't have to go back to _Dad_. We're going on tour, and he's staying at home with Cruella … I mean, Meredith."

Lyla giggled. "It's scary how much like that woman on the film she is."

"I know, right? You should have seen her after you ran; she acted totally brattish and tried to re-focus all attention on herself. We just ignored her. So you'll come with us on tour?"

Lyla went out to the sitting room and sat on the sofa, apparently thinking hard.

"So?" Shane asked after about ten minutes, when she hadn't moved, and in which time he had made a sandwich and eaten it.

"I want to watch The Parent Trap."

"What?!" Shane asked in surprise – it was a totally unexpected comment, and he had been psyching himself up to defend his side of the argument.

"I said: I want to wa- "

"Yeah, I heard. What I meant was have you decided to come back and go on tour with us?"

"Oh, that. I thought I said already? Okay, then I'll come back with you. But only if you pinky swear I don't have to see Dad or Cruella."

She held out her pinky finger solemnly, and Shane hooked his own around it.

"Pinky swear?" she asked.

"Pinky swear," he promised, and then gave a great yell of joy and disappeared out of the front door of the apartment. Lyla settled back onto the cushions and put The Parent Trap on.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted," she said, and her mom just smiled and waited.

Sure enough, five minutes later Shane returned dragging Nate and Jason along behind him. Nate was trying to get a piece of cheese from his hand to his mouth but every time he got near Shane would jerk him forward particularly hard and he'd be back at square one.

When Shane eventually released him, as Jason swept towards Lyla, squealing with delight, Nate finally shoved the chunk of cheese into his mouth and chewed with great satisfaction. Only once he was finished did he nod to Lyla, and she nodded back with a grin.

Lyla was secretly very pleased to be back in their company again. She was worried that she'd lose her irritating touch if she was away from them for too long, but she reckoned that once on the tour bus she could have some pretty awesome fun.

"So when are we leaving?" she asked brightly once she'd fought her way free from Jason's smothering hug. Shane glanced up at their mom.

"That's what I needed to ask, actually. Is there any way we can stay for tonight? Our return flight is tomorrow afternoon … so tomorrow night French time … and we have no place to go."

In synch, all three boys turned their puppy-dog eyes on Shane and Lyla's mom, and she caved instantly.

"Of course. Two of you can share the room Lyla's been sleeping in, and the other can have the second spare. Lyla, you can come in with me."

Lyla shook her head. "Thanks, but I'd rather sleep on the sofa. I need space."

Then she very determinedly sat down in front of the TV and pressed play on the movie. The rest of the family withdrew to the kitchen to talk and catch up.

~x~

Lyla was awake bright and early at eight the next morning, and she got dressed and then forcefully dragged all three boys out of bed. They all rolled out of their beds with moans and groans of disgust, but headed to their separate bathrooms with surprisingly few complaints. Lyla wondered briefly how long she could play them with the _hurt-and-innocent _act, and then grabbed a banana and sat munching it as she waited.

Eventually all three were sat at the table in various states of sleepiness. Only Jason seemed to be displaying any sort of enthusiasm for what Lyla had planned.

"_So_," she began, and they all sat up straighter. "We're going to begin with a quick trip up the Eiffel Tower. Mom's been in touch with the people there, and they'll be able to boost us to the front of the queue, which means we'll have time to hit Notre-Dame, then the Sacre-Coeur, and then lunch on the Seine before we go to the Arc de Triomphe, and then some quick shopping on the Champs-Elysees before we have to get back here and collect our suitcases to catch our flight on time!"

Lyla rolled up her mini-itinerary with a flourish and eyed them all.

"Any questions?"

"Do we have to?" Nate asked grumpily, and Lyla just reached over and flicked his ear before standing up and grabbing her purse.

"Mom's not coming, she went to work," she told them as she half-led, half-dragged them towards the door. She managed to bundle them all into the lift and then into the car her mom had left them. Nate, Jason and Shane all reluctantly pulled on beanie hats, and Lyla smirked at them as the car carried them through Paris towards the Eiffel Tower.

They all struggled out of the car once the reached the Eiffel Tower, and Lyla paused for a moment.

"That is the tackiest thing I've ever seen," she announced, indicating the ring of bright yellow stars that had been stuck on the side.

"Oh, I don't know, you haven't seen Tess's charm bracelet," Shane said, walking next to her down to the queues of people waiting for the lifts to the top. Lyla hurried over to the nearest booth and started telling the people inside what was going on. Nate, Shane and Jason watched in surprise as she communicated fairly well with the unseen person, and then in even greater surprise as a man in a shiny waistcoat came up to them.

"Follow me, pliss," he said with a very heavy accent. All four grinned and followed him to an empty lift, which he operated himself, and then waved them out, almost bowing.

After thirty minutes of delighted gazing out onto Paris and photograph-taking, and of course after Nate had spat over the edge, just because he _could_, Lyla dragged them off to Notre-Dame.

They lit a candle each and made a wish. Lyla's came true almost instantly as a small dog ran up to them once outside and peed on Shane's leg then ran off again.

Then the Sacre-Coeur, and a group of English schoolchildren who looked around Nate's age were chattering madly as they walked past, but stopped to crane their heads after the three boys. They ducked inside hurriedly, and Lyla headed straight over to the shop. She bought a tiny little set of prayer-beads in bright colours, and the lady behind the counter gave her a piece of string to tie them around her neck with. She did so, and then went out to make another wish with a prayer candle, this time making a slightly more serious wish, before yanking Jason away from the candle stand. He had been trying to light his sixth candle, and Lyla was pretty certain there was a limit at some point to the number of wishes you could make.

Then she hoiked Shane out from a confession booth, where he was pretending with all seriousness to the priest on the other side that he was a closet gay on the run from the law for stealing garden gnomes in the city of Detroit. She stopped briefly to apologise to the priest, and then, tugging Shane and Jason along behind her, she went in search of Nate.

She found him eventually. He had climbed up behind a statue, and every time people stopped to admire the Virgin and Child he was jumping out and scaring the life out of them. Lyla yanked him out, too, slightly worried by the fact that her family was making more trouble than she was. She managed to get them all in the car and onto the Seine for lunch.

As she told them soundly off over lunch for being so annoying in the cathedral, she caught Shane wink at Nate with a huge smirk, and frowned.

After visiting the Arc de Triomphe and stopping both Nate and Jason from buying the shop's entire collection of little metal soldiers, she was beginning to get more than a little suspicious of a plan to get revenge on her.

In true Lyla fashion, she ignored this totally and instead bullied them into shopping with her. In fact, Shane and Jason were kinda eager to shop anyway, without her needing to harry them, so she had a good couple of hours filling up yet _more _shopping bags. Nate just hung around, muttering about 'ungratefulness and selfishness'. He was completely ignored.

Their final stop on their whirlwind tour of Paris was the Louvre, after Nate insisted that they visited at least _one _of the art museums Paris was famous for. Despite the fact that it wasn't on Lyla's itinerary she agreed and they headed off.

Lyla should have known it was a bad idea. Her brother and cousins seemed to have decided to use the huge museum as the site of their true revenge. Lyla never had a chance. She was admiring the revolution picture that she recognised as the cover of Hotplay's new album, Viva La Vida, when she was suddenly surrounded by security guards with riot shields. She froze deadly still, terrified.

"You come wiz us," one of the guards said, and Lyla gulped.

"What have I done?" she asked in a quiet voice, and the guard smiled for a tiny moment.

"You have annoyed your family too much. Open fire!" he finished with a yell and suddenly all the guards began to pelt her with water bombs. She caught sight of Shane and Nate and Jason leaning against the walls to support themselves, crying with laughter, and with a shout of complete and total fury shot off after them.

They sprinted down a long gallery, weaving in and out of innocent tourists, three boys being chased by a screaming, red-faced, soaking-wet teenage girl. It caused no end of amusement for those watching, and people outside pointed in amazement as they caught sight of none other than Connect 3, hats long gone, pelting towards a car with a small apoplectic brunette chasing after them yelling threats at the top of her lungs.

Eventually they all disappeared back inside the car and the tourists and Parisians were left to get on with their day, wondering what on Earth they'd just witnessed.

~x~

**Hope you enjoyed it! I was going to make the bit in Paris a whole lot shorter, but this chapter wrote itself down so they'll return to America in the next chapter, and your characters will come in at some point in the next few chapters, I promise!**

**There are still spaces if anyone wants in …**

**Also, for anyone who reads in the Twilight fandom, I would really appreciate it if you went and read "Unbearable Infinity" by SunshineAtMidnight. She wrote it in response to mine and Kim's 'clichéd plot' challenge, and it's not getting nearly as many reviews at it deserves. The link's on my profile if you want it.**

**And yet another thing! Has anyone seen Hotel Rwanda? Isn't it the saddest movie EVER? Can you believe that so little was done for those poor people?**


	11. Tour Bus

Lyla gazed with considerable interest at the bus. It was silver with big tinted windows and a door at the front that opened behind the little cab where the driver sat. She got more and more excited as she waited impatiently for all the boxes to be loaded up into the luggage compartment.

Finally Shane wandered slowly up and pressed a button so the door hissed slowly open like something out of a sci-fi movie. He had one foot on the stairs up into the interior when he was suddenly hauled backwards and almost thrown onto the floor. The haze retreated from his vision in time for him to see Lyla – who had been drinking coffee all morning – disappear up the stairs.

"You …" Shane managed to get out, and then Nate and Jason also shot off up the stairs with Caitlyn while Mitchie hauled him to his feet and helped him dust off.

"Thanks," he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and leading her up the stairs.

Inside, Lyla paused briefly to admire the large inside of the bus, noted carefully the location of the kitchen and the TV, and then dashed to the back of the bus where the little bed compartments were. She counted eight as she went past – _long bus _– and then climbed to the top bunk at the back. She sat on it and pulled her little toy bunny out of her handbag and settled him carefully on the pillow.

She saw Nate and Jason come down towards her bed, and she scowled.

"This is _my _bed," she told them, emphasising the information by patting the duvet. Nate held up his hands.

"Don't worry, we don't want your bunk," he said, "I always have this one and Jason has that one over there." He pointed to the one opposite Lyla, and then climbed up into the top bunk next to hers. Lyla stuck her head around the dividing compartment wall.

"You're sleeping next to me? Aw, man."

"Do you have a problem with my proximity?" Nate asked, puffing his pillows up like a professional cleaner.

"Yeah. You smell kinda funny."

"No offense taken."

"Shame."

"It's still here!" Jason suddenly exclaimed, distracting Lyla. Nate just rolled his eyes and hopped down to wander to the other end of the bus where Shane was demonstrating the various appliances to Mitchie and Caitlyn.

Lyla bounced up and down on her bed a couple of times to test the springiness, and then leant across the gap to stare with great intent at the patch of wall Jason was grinning mindlessly at.

"So, watcha doing?" she asked, trying to work out what was up with him. He snapped out of his mini trance and pointed.

"Look, that's where I carved my name two years ago!"

Lyla peered very closely, and indeed she managed to pick out two letters, the initials J.T.

"Justin Timberlake?" Lyla asked with a smirk, and Jason frowned.

"No, that's me, Jason Taylor!"

"Oh, right," Lyla said, and was about to add a further remark when a newcomer caught her eye. It was another girl, shortish, with freakishly long brunette hair, who was maybe fifteen or sixteen.

Lyla jumped down to the ground, swore as she landed funny on her ankle, and then marched up to the little gathering and stuck her hand out to the girl.

"Hi, I'm Lyla. I'm Shane's sister," she said, and shook the girl's hand.

"Uh … hi. I'm Kacee, Caitlyn's friend."

"Do you play Guitar Hero? No-one else will play with me," Lyla asked, pleasantries forgotten almost immediately. She smiled sweetly and stepped on Shane's foot as he rolled his eyes. The girl glanced at Caitlyn and then back at Lyla.

"Yeah, sure."

"Then bring it."

"Oh, you're on, kid."

"I'm fourteen. I'm not a kid."

"Uh … right."

Kacee tossed a desperate look over her shoulder as Lyla led her to the TV, but Caitlyn just gave her a 'you're on your own' smirk and sat down with Shane, Nate and Mitchie to watch. Jason wandered by in pursuit of something – possibly food – and then noticed the gathering storm clouds and sat down with the others.

Lyla handed Kacee a control, and a good battle ensued that ended in a dead draw.

"You're good," Lyla said, dropping her control and heading to the kitchen for a drink just as another girl appeared in the doorway with a man.

"Shit, outnumbered," Shane said, and took refuge behind Mitchie. Nate rolled his eyes and got up.

"Hey, Drew. What's up?"

The man, Drew, grinned. "Hey, Nate. This is my kid sister, Callie, and I was wondering if she could stay with you guys? Our bus is all twenty-something guys, and I know you've got some girls on here. I'm responsible for her until our parents get back at Christmas and –"

"Say no more, dude," Nate said, clapping him on the arm. "We got space. She can keep Lyla company. Lyla's the short one with the evil glint in her eyes."

Lyla chucked an orange at his head.

"And maybe Callie can keep her out of trouble," Nate finished, picking up the slightly squished orange and chucking it back. Lyla ducked down behind the microwave.

Drew seemed about to say something, but then stopped himself. "Well, thanks a lot you guys, you're the best."

"Oh, we know," Nate said, ushering Drew out of the door, then turning to the driver.

"Ready, Frank?"

"Let's go," the driver, Frank, said with some enthusiasm and gunned the engine.

"Lyla, can you take Callie down to the beds and show which one is hers? She can have the one under yours."

"Ah, gee, thanks, _cuz_," Lyla said, then approached the newcomer.

"Hi, I'm Lyla," she said, and then grabbed Callie's hand. "C'mon, let's get away from all these crazy people."

Callie grinned and allowed Lyla to lead her down the back of the bus. Lyla showed her the bed, and then sat on it.

"I like your jacket," she said after several moments of silence.

"Thanks," said Callie, sitting down next to her. It was a black jacket with yellow smiley faces all over it that she had paired with yellow skinny jeans, bright red converse and a red t-shirt. Lyla felt very drab by comparison in a dark blue summer dress and low-cut blue converse.

"So, how come you're on tour too?" Callie said, and Lyla sighed.

"Well, it was this or stay at home with my dad and his crazy-bitch girlfriend and keep going to school, so I picked to spend a month crammed into a pokey little tour bus with my butthead brother, bossy cousin number one and spaced-out cousin number two."

"Tough choice."

"_Tell _me about it. Say, do you like water balloons?"

Ignoring the randomness of the query, a devilish spark lit up in Callie's eyes not unlike the one that appeared in Lyla's eyes when a particularly good prank was in progress. The two girls grinned at each other and then put their heads together, whispering furiously. Shane glanced up from the TV, where Sex and the City was playing, and noticed. But Shane was a smart(ish) guy, so he left them to it.

He regretted that thirty minutes later when all six older teens found themselves soaked, with Lyla and Callie nowhere to be found. The water bombs seemed to just fall from the roof onto them, and their squeals of surprise quickly turned to anger.

"LYLA ARIANNA GRAY!" Shane roared, stalking down to the sleeping end of the bus. In the driver's cab in the front of the bus, Lyla and Callie grinned and high-fived. They had carefully rigged a line that ran from the bed end of the bus and strung fifty-odd water balloons from it, then tilted the line so the balloons all slid down and hung above Shane, Nate, Jason, Caitlyn, Mitchie and Kacee. Then they had crawled the whole way down the bus, spiderman-style, with their arms and legs against the sides of the windows and their heads just brushing the ceiling.

Then they had sat down in the two front seats spare and, with evil grins, untied the line. Cue all mayhem.

When Shane and Nate had thoroughly ransacked the back end of the bus looking for Lyla and Callie, they started poking through the various cabinets in the kitchen. They were beginning to get slightly creeped out, as they had thought that a tour bus had only limited hiding possibilities. As Shane and Nate were examining the mini-wardrobe, Frank pulled the bus to a halt and announced that he was filling up the tank. No-one saw Callie and Lyla slip out after him. They climbed up the ladder on the side of the bus and lay flat on the roof, giggling like crazy as Shane and Nate's yells became more and more irate.

Then they got the shock of their lives as the bus rolled out onto the highway again.

"Hang on!" Lyla yelled, grabbing the railing on the side of the bus and holding on for dear life. Callie mimicked her, and they squinted against the rush of air as the bus picked up speed, the occupants apparently unaware that two girls were on the roof and in serious physical danger.

Lyla and Callie were facing forwards, their hair blowing back from their faces, whipping along behind them, when suddenly the glint reappeared in Callie's eyes.

"Hey!" she yelled, having to shout to be heard over the roar of the wind, "You wanna freak them all out?"

Lyla nodded furiously, grinning until a bug flew into her mouth and she choked. She watched carefully as Callie swung her body over the low railings and hung her head down, then quickly withdrew it.

"They're all sitting watching TV! You do it now, they'll see you."

Lyla very carefully manoeuvred herself until she was hanging slightly over the side of the bus, then slid forwards by inches until her face was in the window of the tour bus. She made a dead face, tongue lolling out, staring through the window at the other people on the bus, waiting for them to notice her.

She had to control laughter as she saw Callie's hair sliding inch by inch down the window, and then Callie's face appearing. She grinned broadly and then carefully put her face back to the dead expression. Callie copied her.

Then Mitchie happened to glance up, and screamed.

All hell broke loose. Caitlyn and Kacee, who were also on the sofa with Mitchie, jumped about four feet in the air and sent popcorn flying _everywhere._ Nate, who had just stuck his head in a cupboard to find the sugar was startled and smashed his head on the top of the cupboard, knocking himself out. Shane tried to hide behind the sofa. Jason jumped to his feet and yelled, "Where's the fire?!"

Lyla almost fell off the roof laughing. She hauled herself back up to the roof as the bus pulled off the road onto the dust, and then she and Callie both slid down the opposite side of the bus to the one Shane climbed up.

They darted round the side and hurried back inside, heading straight for the back of the bus, unnoticed by everyone inside because they were all trying to revive Nate, and climbed into Lyla's bed and pulled the curtains shut. Then they relapsed into fits of silent giggles.

Shane stalked back onto the bus several irate minutes later and yanked back the curtain to Lyla's bed, hauling her off it and down to the ground.

"You little …" was all he seemed able to say. Lyla wriggled out of his grasp.

"No hitting, Shane. Mom says it's not okay to hit."

"Fuck Mom. She's not here. She abandoned us both and moved to sunny old Paris, leaving us with Dad. So it is okay to hit," Shane retorted savagely.

"If you hit me I'll cry," Lyla warned, trying to ignore the sting of the abandonment comment. Shane lifted his hand and slapped her across the cheek. Not too hard, but hard enough for it to sting. Then he released her and she put a hand to the red mark, eyes filling up.

"Lyla, in what world do you think it's okay to climb on the top of moving bus?! And when is it _ever_ okay to hang off the side of one? You could have been killed, Lyla. And what would have happened then? I'd have had to explain to Drew that _his _little sister was dead, and then try and deal with the pain of losing you!"

"You're just a bully," Lyla spat, tears overspilling. "You wouldn't care if I died. You don't care about me at all."

"Bullshit!" Shane yelled, incensed. "I went all the fucking way to Paris to get you back! Or didn't you notice? Were you too wrapped up in your own little Lyla-world to notice _anything _going on around you?"

"I notice things," Lyla retorted defensively.

"No, you don't! You think the whole world is made up of sunshine and rainbows, Lyla! You think that death doesn't really happen, you think that because you're you nothing bad can ever happen to you! Well, newsflash, it _can_! And it will!"

"And it already has!" Lyla shouted, suddenly blazingly furious. "Shane, when I was eight I watched a girl get raped and then stabbed and die. Didn't mom ever tell you? Her boyfriend forced me to watch as he and a load of his mates attacked some poor defenceless girl! So don't you dare _ever_ tell me I live in a world of sunshine and rainbows, Shane Gray, because I sure as hell don't. In my world, every time I close my eyes I see pain, betrayal, loneliness and death. And what's sunny about that?"

And with that, Lyla turned her back on her lost-for-words brother and climbed up into her bed, pulling the curtain shut behind her and turning her face into the pillow to sob.

~x~

They left her alone for a long time. Lyla watched the sky darken out of her little window, wrapped up in her blanket, her stuffed bunny clutched to her chest. She had stopped crying relatively fast, but now she was exhausted, upset and scared. She hadn't realised how mad Shane would be. She never thought he would react like he had, and it freaked her out.

Maybe she just wasn't used to people caring so much.

After all, like Shane had said, her mom obviously hadn't loved her that much or she wouldn't have abandoned her.

After a while, when no-one came to check on her, Lyla fell into a fitful sleep.

The result of going to sleep at about seven thirty in the evening, of course, was that she was wide awake and full of energy at about four AM. She slid out of bed, headed to the bathroom to get dressed, and then took quick peeks at the other people sleeping on the tour bus. Callie was fast asleep on her side, wearing unicorn pyjamas that Lyla liked.

Nate was on his back, snoring. Jason was on his front, snoring. Caitlyn was curled up into a ball, and Mitchie's bed was empty. Lyla found her in Shane's bed, the two of them curled around each other, and mimed gagging.

Then a sudden idea struck her, and she crept towards the kitchen area of the bus. She dug around in a draw and found a permanent marker. With an evil grin, she uncapped the lid and crept back towards the sleeping members of the party.

When she was done, Shane had little hearts all over his face, Mitchie had a moustache and goatee, and Nate had a unicorn drawn on his chest with 'I believe' written under it. She left Jason and Caitlyn alone because she liked Jason and was slightly afraid of Caitlyn. Then she replaced the pen and went to sit on the sofa and read a book.

She was totally bored by about six so she flicked the TV on and turned Spongebob up very loud.

The "SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!" blared out so loudly that Lyla fell off the sofa with a squeak of surprise, and fumbled around for the remote as various furious voices issued from bunk beds. Lyla found the remote, switched the TV off, and then ran to the driver's compartment at the front as her artwork was noticed for the first time.

Callie raced after her and got in just before Lyla slammed the button that shut a door between the cab and the rest of the bus, and there was a 'thunk' as someone ran into the door.

The driver turned to survey Lyla and Callie. "You know, pissing your brother off so constantly can't be good for your relationship," he said seriously, and Lyla grinned.

"No, I agree," she replied, and then jumped as a bug hit the windshield.

"Gross," she and Callie said at the same time, and the driver laughed.

"So, are we nearly there yet?" Lyla asked, poking at the radio.

"About an hour."

"Awesomeness," she replied, and found the button for the CD. It was a Connect 3 CD, so Lyla pulled it out in disgust and replaced it with a Coldplay CD. She nodded in satisfaction and sat back happily.

**~x~**

***takes refuge in concrete bunker* I'm sorry I'm sorry! I totally forgot about this story! Don't kill me, please don't kill me!**

**I'm worried that this is becoming plotless, so if anyone has a good idea as to where this could go I'd appreciate it!**

**Look, look, two requested characters have appeared, with the rest to follow shortly :) (when I can come up with a plotline)**


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